Dark Misery
by Shanthaia
Summary: The wraith cursed that unknown cruel entity who made him suffer right now. And on to top of all that his first decent meal in weeks is fighting back. Can he find a truce with Dr. McKay and flee or are they going to kill each other? Wraith whumping ahead..
1. Chapter 1

This is my first fanfiction, please don't be too harsh with me. Many thanks to my wonderful beta night animal, who recently started to help me with this story. But as with everything this requires time and the main focus of correcting will be on the new chapters, so it will take a while until the early chapters are betaed. The moment you see Thank you night animal at the beginning of a chapter you know it contains less mistakes.

I also would like to thank redrider6612, who tried betaing this story but it did not work out between both of us.

**Disclaimer:** I don't owe Stargate Atlantis or the Wraith, but I wish I did.

This contains **spoilers** for nearly every episode Todd was in.

**Chapter 1**

_Inner monolog of the Wraith in italics_

He awoke to an unpleasant feeling, like his heart was pumping ice crystals through his blood vessels instead of warm blood. The closer he got to the world of consciousness the more the unpleasantness turned into pain, incredible pain. Everything hurt and movement seemed an unbearable agony, even such a simple thing as opening his eyes was impossible.

After what seemed like hours, or were it just mere minutes, it was difficult to tell, the pain eased, just a little. It was enough, though, for him to be able to force his eyelids open and realising that this place was definitely not where he had been stunned. …_Stunned?! Now since when does a stunner cause this much pain? Something is wrong, very wrong indeed._

His vision was blurry, but he could make out that the dark room he was lying in was not of Wraith design. It was all cold and lifeless – all stone, and come to think of it, this place's stench insulted his nostrils. Slowly the pieces of his memory begun to reassemble:

_I was on a mission….Yes that was it, I was on a mission to hunt down this traitor of a Wraith, this Lantean lover, who would let himself be imprisoned by those humans… Would ally with them ... How could a Wraith in his right mind consider working together with food? Well, the Replicators were a serious threat, but we are completely capable of dealing with those machines ourselves. We have done so before, we would have done it again, __**without the help of the Lanteans**__! But this Wraith seemed to be strange anyway; hey he was imprisoned before by even less evolved humans. What were they called again? Hmm…ah, yes - Genii. That Wraith must be an idiot. Imprisoned twice by humans in less than 100 years. That was quite an accomplishment in terms of stupidity. I never ever would have let a human humiliate me in such a way; I would have found a way to free myself very quickly. But then, maybe the Genii have burnt away his brain. And then this piece of filth dared to crash his hive into the cloning facility and kill my beloved queen. Even worse, that dirtbag had the impudence not to die with his hive but to take a dart and fly through the gate. What a coward. I __was "honoured" with the mission to hunt down this piece of garbage and kill it. The running Wraith __had decided to take refuge in the underbush of a creepy red leafed forest, full of thorns on some backwater planet, long deprived of human life. I was hunting him, had almost gotten him, but then unbelievably enough, this stupid human loving Wraith stunned me. Not such a fool after all then …_

_But how does this place relate to my mission?_

Slowly he became aware of an additional stinging pain between his shoulders; some kind of thorn was piercing his skin there. Cursing the thorned forest, he reached for it and pulled it out. To his surprise the thorn turned out to be a crude weapon, a small feathered dart. As his vision cleared, he could see that the point was covered with some sticky substance. _Poison? - That would explain the pain. _He dropped the dart on the floor.

As the effects of the poison wore off, he picked himself up from the muddy floor to assess the situation. While doing so he immediately realised that he was on a different planet as the gravity was slightly stronger. The room seemed to be more carved out of stone than actually built, the only exit was barred by a door made of wood. The Wraith could not suppress a grin. Whoever brought him here could not possibly have imagined that this battered, rotten door could hold him, even though it was locked. He kicked it hard, just for the fun of it and to let off some steam. That poison stuff had really hurt. As expected the door was no barrier whatsoever and upon punching several times it splintered in all directions. One of the pieces got stuck in his thigh. He pulled it out and discovered that his regeneration abilities where not as strong as he would have liked them to be as the wound took some time to heal. _The poison must have weakened me considerably. Whoever had the insolence to bring me here will serve me as a meal._

And with a big stride he went through the doorway, or to put it better he tried to get through the doorway, which resulted in an eruption of red light and a howl of pain on the Wraith's part. Slowly he extended his hand to the doorway again and was hit by another energy jolt. The air between the door frame and the corridor was separated by red ripples of energy.

_Oh great, a force field… in a cave, behind a rotten wooden door, just great. The day gets better by every moment._

The Wraith inspected the door frame, this time being careful not to get too close, as he felt no need for more pain. The frame seemed to be ordinary stone with no sign from where or how the field was generated. This was just too much for one day and he screamed out his fury . As the last echos of his screams died, he found he felt slightly better. Now that his head felt clear again, the Wraith inspected the walls of his cell once more, just to make sure he had not overlooked anything.

As he examined the wall opposite the door he suddenly felt like he was being watched. Turning around quickly he saw two completely white eyes watching him. They were kind of mesmerizing and he found he had trouble pulling his eyes away to study the rest of his captor. The being on the other side of the force field seemed to have a normal face, completely black in colour, with a nose and a mouth, framed by long white hair, but apart from that it was the strangest thing he had ever seen. It was definitely not human or Wraith or anything else he had seen or heard of in his entire life. It seemed to draw all the light from its surroundings, making it difficult to tell were the being ended and the dark corridor started. He saw himself confronted with pitch-black featured by two white eyes staring at him. The Wraith stared back.

The black being started to grin, thereby exposing sharp white teeth. "So much defiance." Its voice was a hissing whisper, "you are going to be very entertaining." The grin was really nasty by now.

The Wraith growled in anger.

"Now, what will I call you? How about Fluffy?"

The prisoner could not hold back his fury any longer. "The moment I can lay hand on you I will make you suffer for your impudence" he spat at his captor.

"Oh, really?! That will be amusing," the grin got even broader exposing even more pointed teeth "You will make a good pet. I shall have lots of fun watching you suffer." Then the being dissolved into thin air, leaving a very irritated Wraith.

What kind of an insane creature was that?

_TBC_

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	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

Another two full inspections of his prison, yielding nothing, sixteen wrathful curses at various things (including the wooden splinters at the floor, the wraith who stunned him, his captor, the wraith who stunned him, the mud and the wraith who stunned him), one angry collision with the force field and three tantrums later the wraith had worn himself out enough to be in need of some rest.

_I absolutely hate this! That cannot be happening to me! $§'#&! I am tired. I need to sit down. But I am certainly not touching this stinking mud more than necessary and I will not be poked by those wooden splinters._

Glaring angrily at the mess on the floor he started to kick the splinters and muck aside, clearing a small space in a corner from that disgusting stuff as much as he was able to. Then he sank to the floor with a little sigh.

_This place is still awfully dirty. Yuck, now that smelly stuff is clinging to my coat, too. Hmmm,…never mind. I am just too exhausted to care for the moment. But there is no way that I can have a lie down without getting my hair soiled._

With a low groan he leaned his head on the wall and closed his eyes.

_Was that a giggle? _He tiredly opened his eyes again. There it was again, somebody was giggling, but nobody was to be seen. The wraith needn't to either; he had a pretty good idea who was giggling anyway.

"What is so amusing?" he asked, he couldn't keep his anger completely out of the question, which annoyed him further.

"You" came the hissed answer followed by more giggling.

"You know, you sound like a filthy little human girl being tickled," the wraith spat at his still invisible captor.

Out of nowhere two white eyes materialized into the midair surrounded by a bit of black mist. The eyes were alive with amusment. "Now, now, Fluffy, why so irritated?" The wraith just hissed lividly.

"Why have you brought me here?"

"Because you were messing up my vegetable pitch."

"I…what?! You can't be serious about that darned forest being your vegetable pitch! I mean its just f thorned trees and a lot of thick thorned under growth, that can't possibly…"

"You are babbling, Fluffy" the creature interrupted, "and you did harm my precious plants, which just means a lot of extra work for me to undo your damage to them." The eyes were now very serious, from one second to the next there was no amusement left in them. "I need some recreational activity to compensate for all the additional trouble, as you caused it you are also going to help me relax."

_I won't, you insane thing. _Theanger showed clearly on his face.

"Well, then, have a good night. By the way, it is going to rain tonight, so have fun." Even tough the mouth was not visible, the evil grin behind the statement could well be heard.

"I am in a cave, how could rain concern me?" the wraith asked with a little grin himself. _That creature gets more annoying by the minute._

"You will see" With that the eyes dissolved again, though the amused chuckling was audible for another minute or so. When it finally was silent again the now incredibly pissed wraith tried to get some rest. But sleep would not come; he was too wound up for it. The wraith just sat in his corner with closed eyes and tried to think of a way out. To come up with an escape plan was not as easy as he would have thought it to be earlier this day. _Oh, crap!_

A drop on his forehead interrupted his thoughts. It was followed by another one on his cheek.

_Oh, great, the cave is not water proof. What next? Yuck, that is not water that is stinking muck…the rain water must pick up something foul-smelling on its way to this cave._

To the great suffering of the prisoner the only thing which turned out water permeable was the cave roof, the cave floor was perfectly water proof. The single drops from the roof turned soon into a down pouring stream and the water level rose quickly. Soon the wraith was standing knee deep in reeking sewage, being drenched to the skin with it. That the liquid was freezing cold didn't help either. He circled his prison miserably, not being able to escape the down pour. Then he saw the floating debris, which had been the door, swim out into the corridor. _Is the force field broken down? Has this awful down pour a good site to it after all?_

He went to the door and was rewarded by a most painful energy jolt, which sent him flying into the sewage. Coughing the wraith resurfaced and cursed wildly. Shivering he returned to his corner and waited for the water flow to stop. What else could he do?

_Interesting, the wood and water can pass the door but I can't. Does this field react specifically to me or does it react to all living beings? It definitely does not contain lifeless matter._

After endless hours the water stream turned back to single drops, then ceased all together. The now breast deep water took another couple of hours to drain away. The wraith was so worn out, he just watched all of it aphetically.

"Good morning" a cheerful voice greeted him interrupting his silent staring.

_This was surly one of my worst nights ever. _He was just too shattered to reply in any way. All the wraith wanted to do was to curl up in a warm dry place and sleep.

"Oh, come on Fluffy, don't be boring" the voice teased.

"Stop it" the prisoner hissed.

"Stop? I haven't even started yet"

The horrified look on the wraith's face caused the being to erupt in mad laughter, which slowly ceased into silence.

_O crap, how much worse can this mess get?_

_TBC_


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

He had cycled his cell for most part of the rest of the day, or at least he guessed it had been a day, time was difficult to measure without anything except himself and the cell. The crazy creature had not returned. The wraith just kept moving to keep warm. The air was humid, which was not totally against his liking but it delayed the drying of his cloth. So he still was uncomfortably damp and the dirt particles once dissolved in the water caused friction between his coat and skin. The prisoner inspected his cell with every cycle but had not discovered anything of interest. Silently cursing about everything, but especially about the muck in his hair, he kept moving.

_I hate this place. I hate this muck in my lovely hair. I hate this Lantean loving Wraith, it is all his fault. I hat the dirt in my cloth. I hate being locked in. I hate this creature. _

And those thoughts kept cycling in his head like a mantra as he cycled his prison.

After running endless cycles and repeating his thoughts over and over again, the wraith slowly got exhausted. His eyes fell upon the corner, in which he had spent the night. The nightly down pour had distributed all the dirt equally in the cell again. Sighing he started to clear his corner from as much muck as possible. It still was considerably wet and the layer thicker as it was the first time. Kicking the mud aside resulted in a fresh assault of stench to his nostrils. Snorting in disgust he kicked the dirt even more viciously. Pain erupted in his right foot; something sharp had cut through his boot. The wraith lifted his leg to inspect the damage and pulled out the little dart he had dropped earlier on.

_Of all those things in this cell to be washed away that little bugger had to stay, buried in the mud?_ _That is just the sort of my luck!_

Coldness creped up his leg followed by numbness.

_O great that thing is still poisonous._

His leg gave way and he had to sit down in his freshly cleared corner.

_I really look forward to the poison wearing off, all I need is some more pain. _And with a tormented grin he settled back to get some rest, as long as he could.

Suddenly it struck him, that the dart, which he still clasped in his hand, was dead matter. It would go through the force field without a problem whatsoever. And with a now genuine smile on his face he went to sleep.

_At least I will be able to cause my captor some pain as well!_

_TBC_


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

Cold stinging pain in his leg awoke him. Groaning the wraith opened his eyes to the semidarkness in the cell. _That poison is quite potent, I just wish it wasn't. But then, on the other hand it will cause my tormentor some pain as well. That will be good to see_. The wraith grinned grimly. Tightening the grip on the dart he shifted to get into a more comfortable position. Sitting on a stone floor for sleep was certainly not his favourite way to get rest. If it was possible the pain in his leg got even more intense. Silently moaning he settled back against the wall and did the only thing possible; waiting till the pain ceased. _I just hope there is enough poison left on that damn dart to cause the same agony to my captor. _The image of the white eyes surrounded my black mist resurfaced from his memory and he began to wonder if this being was solid at all or if the dart would go right through it. Annoyed at that thought he shook his head, which resulted in a fresh jolt of pain in his leg. Hissing sharply he decided not to move again as long as the poison was still raging in his system. After sitting there with closed eyes for what seemed like an eternity the pain finally eased and the exhausted wraith drifted back to sleep, still clutching the dart.

The wraith woke up to the same semidarkness as earlier on. He was as well rested as one could be after sleeping in an uncomfortable cave corner. The little dart still in his hand, he was now keen on trying it on the creature, but it was nowhere to be seen or heard. Growling in frustration the prisoner started to cycle his cell again, to warm up his stiff hurting body. A sudden breeze of cold air made him shiver. _Where did that come from?_ Obviously it hade come form the opening and closing of an entrance to the prison as darkness crept down the corridor and sure enough the entity turned up in front of his cell a moment later. It just stood there staring with its pure white eyes. The wraith stared back and tightened the grip on the dart. _I will have only one chance to hit it. I need to distract the creature so it will not react instantly to my movements. Maybe I should talk with the being. _Narrowing his eyes and inhaling once deeply he asked: "What are you up to now?"

"Just choosing the game I will play with you today. There are so many things I would like to do to you, it is difficult to decide which kind of fun I will have first, Fluffy." An evil grin appeared on the creatures face, exposing all its sharp teeth again.

"Well I am very sad to inform you, that I will not play along" the wraith answered with a sneer and threw the dart with incredible speed.

The reply of the entity was a surprised and a little displeased "Hmpf". The darkness around the being wavered a bit and the wraith glimpsed just for a moment the outlines of its body. _So it is a solid being!_ _Why am I so strangely relieved by that?_ The creature just pulled the dart out of its torso now wrapped in darkness again and smiled pleasantly.

_Not good!_

"Well, well, Fluffy, seems as you have chosen the game of the day." The being sighed, "Don't you think dart throwing is a bit boring? Hmm, never mind." With that the creature put the tip of the dart into its mouth and started sucking it.

The wraith just stood there completely dumb folded and watched the creature in amazement. "Who are you? What are you? Why is this poison not working on you? Why in all the world are you putting that in your mouth?" The prisoner just could not help it. He had to ask.

"You are lucky that I am in a good mood today", the creature answered "so I will answer your questions instead of punishing you. For the future, you will not speak unless spoken to."

The wraith hissed dangerously, the anger was clearly written on his face.

The being continued completely ignoring him. "What or who I am is of no concern to you, but if you need to address me you will call me mistress. And I have never been endangered by my own body fluids; I am just making sure the effects on you will be appropriate." With that the pitch black entity took the dart out of its mouth. The dart pierced the wraith's skin faster than he even could realise it was thrown. _Hell, this thing is fast._

The coldness stole quickly through his body, he did not have a chance to remove the dart, which had pierced his coat so easily and was now stuck in his chest. His knees buckled and he fell face first into the mud. Weakly he raised his head and looked at the being, groaning. The last thing he saw was the face of the creature wearing an amused expression. Then darkness claimed him.

TBC


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

Agony greeted him back in the world of the living. The wraith just lay on the floor, incapable of moving. His mind felt strangely distant form his body, not really concerned about the pain. _Not good! _He had heard about that happening to victims of torture and it was a bad sign. The wraith sighed in his mind, not being able to actually do it physically. _Can't change it though. At least it is nice that the pain does not consume my mind any more. I wonder if the creature saw that coming. _He smiled mentally. _How a ridicules way to escape this beings torture. At least my thoughts. It is so sick that I get amused by that idea. Hmm, sick …That's the keyword for the entity. This thing is absolutely mad, taking pleasure from torturing other people.… It wanted me to call it mistress …mistress …that's female. That creature is female? Hell, this can get very nasty if she has any similarities with hive queens. And by the extravagant way she is acting she well could have lots of similarities with a queen. _He shook himself mentally. _Comparing this creature with a queen. Oh no, I don't want to compare her to my beloved queen. _But deep down he knew that serving near his queen was dangerous and he did not envy the wraith who did it. Hardly any of them got very old. _Well, she definitely does not look like a hive queen. And thinking about it, all that talk about fixing a vegetable pitch – it does not sound like she is very high up in hierarchy. No queen would ever even have concerns like this. Or is she living alone? That would explain why I haven't seen_ _anybody else of her kind lurking around. I haven't seen anything like her in my whole life. …Seen, I have seen her for a moment when the dart hit. Yes I certainly did. _And the wraith tried to recall the sight of the being._ The rest of her body is as pitch black as the face and the surrounding darkness. Looks like she had two arms and legs as well as a torso. So that was like every other sentient being I have met up to now. But the sight was somehow strange, there was more to it. _He tried to recall the short look he had even stronger, to pinpoint the difference. _The legs were somehow strange – too long if one takes the proportions of wraith and humans as normal. But I would need a longer clearer look to tell exactly what's wrong with her. And there was still more. Was it a tail? It could have been a tail. It was difficult to tell all black in black as the entity was. And did she have additional extremities on her back or did the darkness just waver at her front? I honestly can't tell._

Slowly the agony eased off and the wraith's mind and body were one again. Fresh waves of pain washed over his brain and stopped any kind of musing. He adapted quickly and found that the pain was not too bad. But there was a different kind of pain lurking behind the curtains of freezing pain; something burning. And the more the cold pain left his body the more it was replaced by a blazing fire burning him form the inside. It took a moment or two for him to realise what was going on. _Shit! The healing of the damage done by the poison requires huge amounts of my strength. If this continues in that speed I will be dead soon. _

But the amount of poison seemed well measured as the healing was finished almost instantly after he had the thought; leaving the wraith extremely weakened and burning with hunger on the floor. He sluggishly got himself in a sitting position against the wall, pulled the dart from his chest, dropped it in his lap and slowly started to remove the mud from his face. _I won't survive a third helping of poison. _The prisoner did not care about the rest of his body being covered in muck and leaned his head against the wall. He closed his eyes and moaned. _I am as good as dead before long if I don't feed. I somehow doubt my captor will give me a human. Would it be possible to feed of her if I get the chance?_

A cold breeze washed over him and sure enough the creature turned up a moment later.

"Are you hungry, Fluffy?"

The wraith did not even have the strength left to be offended by this ridicules name she had given him. He just looked at her, asking himself if she would help him if he told her the truth.

As if guessing his thoughts the creature smiled unpleasantly and asked with a honey sweet voice: "Shall we play feeding the wraith today?"

Something about that question startled the wraith. _As nice as this sounds, whatever she has in mind, it is going to be very nasty._

TBC


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

The force field flickered out of existence and the wraith instantly realised that it had offered him protection from the creature; light was obviously not the only thing she sucked out of her surroundings as the temperature dropped dramatically. It had been cold in his cell, now it was freezing. She grabbed him at the neck and dragged him out of the cell and down the corridor. The wraith could barely keep up with his captor's speed. He was extremely weakened by his burning hunger and the being did not make it any easier for him by going pretty quickly. The corridor turned out to be rather long and as the prisoner stumbled along, he decided that although the freezing temperature, the talons piercing the skin of his neck and the high speed were unpleasant, he would be able to put up with it. _If that is all she will put me through for feeding, I might have been too hasty with my judgment about the experience being very nasty._

The corridor ended in a flight of stairs. The creature did not even bother to hold her hand high enough for the wraith to walk up, she just pulled him along. _Ow, her grip is vicious. Those are really long sharp talons. _His knees were soon wound from colliding with countless stairs. _I can only hope she will let me feed soon, I am starving, I even lack the strength to heal these minor damages on my knees. Nasty is probably the word needed to describe my current situation._ By bumping involuntarily to the beings leg he felt its shape. _Ah, that thing walks on its toes. That's why the legs seemed too long. And it has sharp claws on them too, judging by the new gash in my leg._

He corrected it to very nasty when they entered a room at the top of the stairs and the creature undressed him in a matter of seconds, just to drop him in a tub full of salt water. The burning of the liquid in his still open wounds added to his anguish. The entity held him in place with one hand and scrubbed him with a rough brush with the other hand. The brutal cleaning procedure added some new cuts to his abused body, the saltwater burning in them like fire.

"Stop it!" the wraith screamed his agony out.

"Don't be so unthankful, Fluffy, you need a cleaning" she answered, while holding the struggling wraith down with an iron grip.

"I am thankful" the prisoner panted, "I just wish you would cleanse me in normal water".

"Where would be the fun in that?" The entity gave him a toothy smile. "By the way, you have a memory like a sieve, Fluffy; you neither used my proper title nor did I allow you to speak." And with that the creature pressed the head of the wraith under water until he knew no more.

The darkness surrounding his senses slowly lifted. He found himself still naked, freezing, in pain … and strapped to a metal table. He only could move his head to certain extend. At the moment the entity was busy ramming needles into his feeding slit. _Great! Very nasty is not strong enough to describe what that malicious thing is putting me through. _He groaning lowered his head back onto the table. Above him was an extensive network of tubes. Some of the tubes were connected to the needles in his hand. _I don't think I ever will feed again. I wonder in which perverse way she will execute me. Somehow I doubt it will be quick and painless. _A tortured smile crossed his lips.

"Are you looking forward to feeding?"

The not unfriendly asked question ripped him out of his dark musing. He just looked astonished at her. "Feeding?" he croaked weakly.

"I wonder if I treated him too harshly. Maybe it is more than just a memory like a sieve and he suffered brain damage" she muttered to herself.

The creature left the room and a feeble hum told the wraith that some kind of machine must have been switched on. The tubes filled with colourful liquids. He watched, awaiting what ever terrible thing was to come.

His feeding slit reacted quickly and his feeding enzymes flowed freely over his hand and onto the table. An exotic life force entered his body. _A feeding machine? Artificial feeding? I thought such a thing impossible._ _It feels so very wrong. This life force feels so foreign, not at all like a human would feel like. There is no …substance?... to it, no taste, no excitement filling me. My wounds are healing tough. The energy is nourishing then. _The flow of life force stopped all too soon. The wraith moaned, his hunger was appeased for the moment but he felt not the usual strength he would have felt, when he fed from humans. The prisoner still felt awfully weak. The artificial feeding had put his body through a great deal of stress, which was now falling of him. His senses left him one by one and he welcomed the merciful oblivion.

TBC


	7. Chapter 7

Wow, over 6500 words now. I know nothing special on but I haven't written normal stories since primary school. They never exceeded 500 words. For me that is quite an achievement. Be happy with me.

I hope I did get the technical part convincing.

**Chapter 7**

His senses came back one by one as they had left him. The first thing he sensed was the stench, he had gotten used to by now. _Back to the cell then…_Then the wraith became aware of the fact that he was dressed again. _Nice to be almost warm again. Agh, my cloths are still full of dirt. That agonising saltwater cleaning procedure, all for nothing._ He groaning opened his eyes; there was a small object so close up to his head that he could not focus on it. The prisoner slowly sat up. _§&#! She must have tossed me in here completely carelessly. I almost ended up on top of this damn poisoned dart. It must have fallen there when the creature dragged me out._ He rose from the floor; the first warm sensation of hunger started to quiver through his body. _It is not a fire yet but either that creature turned off the feeding machine too soon or, more likely, the process was not very efficient._ The wraith sighed, that could not be helped now. He picked up the dart and considered throwing it through the force field to evade further near collisions, which very well could cause his death. _I am not in the mood to go for death through poisoning. Were should I put it? Where? If I throw it out, I will not get to it if I come up with a use for that thing. If I leave it in my cell it endangers me._

He started to cycle again, still holding on to the dart, to think about its fate. In his third cycle he stopped dead in his track. The wraith's gaze had fallen upon the door frame. He was absolutely sure the force field was still active but the sight still took away his breath: Approximately at hip height a two finger wide piece of the corner had broken away revealing some shiny metal. He crouched next to it to examine it more closely. It was the place where he had collided with the frame, when he had been pulled out of the cell. The edge of the door frame seemed solid stone, like every other part of the wall in this cave. _I was not aware that I hit the corner with enough force to smash stone._ Then he got aware again of the dart in his hand. The prisoner took its end and poked the edge with its tip. The wraith grinned widely. _Just muck pretending to be stone. It must have been caught at the corner for every flooding for years._ He poked the mud around the metal again and some more came off revealing more of its hidden secrets. Now the wraith was sure what he saw was a power conduct for the force field. _To uncover the whole force field generator with this tiny dart will be delicate but not difficult. I haven't seen any surveillance device._ He glanced up and down the corridor._ Creature stay were you are and leave me alone. _

The uncovering process even for an arms length took him several hours. The muck proved to be persistent and the wraith had to apply a lot of force to uncover the machinery underneath it. Sure enough he made several painful contacts with the field. Each time he looked in the corridor nervously. _I can't believe my doing is still undetected. Ow, my hand is throbbing, this dart is really too short. I should have kept a long splinter of the door. Shame it was washed away. Keep working, just keep working! The sooner I am out of here, the better. I don't want to experience another rain shower down here._

It took another couple of hours form him to dig out something interesting – one of the actual force field generators. The mechanism sat protected in a small metal box. The slit between the box and the lid was just wide enough to force the tip of the dart in. The wraith wondered if the little thing was firm enough to withstand the force he had to apply to break off the cover. _Just one way to find out. Please be strong enough, I don't want all this work to be futile. _

The box sprang open and the metal top bounced off the floor with a loud **BANG **which echoed from the corridor walls. The wraith stood listening anxiously. No reaction came. The now open box revealed an assortment of crystals. He smiled. It would be easy for him to pinpoint the main control crystal but removing it with the dart could prove difficult.

After examining the range of tiny crystals, he reconsidered the being easy part about the main control crystal. The crystal assembly was a mess. He wondered how the force field could be functional at all. _I have never seen so many crystals used in a way they were not supposed to work. Whoever put that together had either no idea what he was doing or was really brilliant._ The wraith needed another hour to single out all the crystals which could not be the main control element, which left a rather big blue cracked crystal. The prisoner shook his head. _To use a damaged adapter crystal from a Lantean interstellar hyperdrive as a control element is just crazy. This should not work but as I am still locked in…_ He took the dart and gently poked the blue thing – it came apart and the force field broke down. The wraith smiled. _That was easy._

He went to the left for two reasons: First the being had came from the left after he felt the breeze and second for the feeding they went right and he did not see an exit then. The prisoner sneaked down the corridor. He strained his ears to pick up any noise of an approaching person as soon as possible. Sometimes he glanced over his shoulder nervously but everything stayed calm. A wooden door at the end of the corridor came into view. The wraith opened it, a gentle breeze brushed his face. Excitement filled him. Behind it there was a long flight of stairs leading upwards. He started to climb it and ended up in a network of corridors. He had to strain all his senses to track the origin of the breeze. After a short while he found it – it was a hole in the wall, an arm's length in diameter, leading out to a steep wall of rock. Outside a late afternoon sun shone. The wraith enjoyed the warmth. The landscape was dominated by red leaved trees; he just knew them too well from the planet of his capture. They were a bit smaller and sturdier though. _Probably the higher gravity._ He looked down, he was awfully high up. _It must be possible to climb down nonetheless. _And the wraith held on the edge and lifted his first leg out, trying to find some foothold.

The prisoner did not come far. Even before he could get his second leg out of the hole, he was seized brutally from behind. A claw with four strong sharp talons closed around his head and hauled him back in. The creature lifted him from the ground. Her nails bit deep into his head and black blood flowed freely.

"Having fun, Fluffy?"

The wraith gasped. _So close_. The pressure on his head increased until he thought it would burst. Then he realised she wanted an answer.

"Yes" The pressure intensified further, his skull cracked dangerously "Mistress" The force was reduced, his feet touched the floor again and the creature smiled "Good, you are learning, finally. I thought I might treat you too harshly but as you are still up to little adventures, I have to correct that thought. I have been too nice to you." The wraith shivered and not only because the entity had stolen every warmth from his body. _Oh no, when my treatment was nice up to now, what is going to come? _The being grinned nastily, then she shifted her grip to the wraith's neck and dragged him back down the stairs.

TBC

Please send me reviews. I have a rough story outline but I am open for ideas.

My plea again: I need somebody to beta my story; especially when the Atlantis people come in. I am not sure if I can write them convincing. I am completely new to this; have I missed the place where you can post beta requests? Please help me, thanks.


	8. Chapter 8

This chapter is nothing for people with a weak stomach. It is very violent. For all who still want to read it, be comforted, the wraith will be treated better in all following chapters.

**Chapter 8**

They went down the passages the creature had dragged him the first time, which led to the feeding machine. The only difference was that this journey could not be described as unpleasant it was downright vicious. The grip around his neck was way too tight, giving the wraith trouble to breath. He just could not get enough air into his screaming lungs. The creature's talons bit deep, he had the feeling that any moment she would sever his arteries. The being not only dragged him along the floor but smashed him into the walls on purpose, and not too gently either. Up the stairs was a never-ending agony. She just shook him like a rag doll and he had many encounters with the edges of the stair. _I am sure there is no step left without my blood on. She is going to kill me for sure. Please let it be quick._ He could hear it before he could see or feel it. Something was burning. His eyes widened in shock as he finally saw it: The room he had his violent bath in was a single furnace. _Please, not in there! _The wraith did not feel the heat of the fire and he realised it was because the entity sucked the emitting heat up. She started to move again and the prisoner just then comprehended that they had stopped so he could have a look. As they entered the room, the flames retreated. _Probably their energy is sucked up by her, never thought I would be glad of that characteristic of hers._ The entities grip was loosened and she stepped back. The wraith sucked in the stuffy air. He could barley stand on his own and the heat in the chamber was now noticeable, though it was not unpleasant, yet. The wounds she had inflicted were almost healed again, sapping away his strength.

"Undress"

It was an order, not to be disobeyed, or the consequences would be dreadful. The wraith was amazed how one could put all this meaning into the intonation of a single word. He did not like it, but was sure he would like the consequences of disobedience even less. So the prisoner reluctantly started to undress. The creature kept staring at him. The wraith was not ashamed of being nude but that stare was extremely unpleasant and he wished she would look away.

"Do you like it here, Fluffy?" the being asked with a dangerously sweet voice.

"Nice fire, mistress" he replied with a forced smile, "what is this red stuff burning?" _Keep her nice and happy, maybe she kills you quicker with less pain._

"Thank you; this is a secret recipe of mine for extra hot and persistent fire", her smile was malicious. "Would you like a nice hot bath?" She gestured into the direction of the tub, still filled with salt water, standing in the middle of the fire.

_Oh dear! Try to keep her happy and smile. _"Yes please, mistress." _Please make it quick._

"Why don't you jump in then?"

The wraith moved into the direction of his bath and the further he got away from the creature the hotter it got. It was almost unbearable and the fire started to burn his skin. _No joke about the properties of your formula._ The being came after him and the temperature dropped again. The cloth left behind on the floor coughed fire. The wraith signed. When he reached the tub he closed his eyes, expecting the agony of boiling salt water and stepped into the tub and sat down. The wraith opened his eyes in surprise, it was indeed a lovely warm bath. _Now, I didn't see that coming. Just a warm bath? The salt is burning in my wounds but they are already closing. That's not too bad. Are you not killing me after all? _He looked amazed at the entity, which was standing next to him. She wore a puzzled expression: "Now that did not work out as I wanted it to be." _Oh, she and the fire are kind of cancelling each other out. Therefore this lovely warm bath. Nice that you suck up energy, I have never been so glad you do. _

"Suppose I should stop to feed"

This statement startled him. The darkness surrounding the creature seemed to retreat into her body and the wraith got his first clear look onto the entity. Her body was covered by smooth black skin and was quite muscular. She had a long tail, at least four feet, and yes she did have wings made of skin, just three fingers and a thumb per hand, all with long sharp talons, her forehead continued into two horns, covered with skin, which pointed backwards in a light S shape, the white hair and eyes stayed the same as well as her face. Then the water started to boil and he screamed in agony. The creature seemed not impressed by the heat. She took the brush she had used earlier on and started to scrub him. It had been vicious the first time now it was murderous. The bristles bit deep and his healing abilities were depleted soon. The water changed its colour to black. The wraith screamed until there was no air left in his lungs; then he whimpered. _Let it be over soon._ His consciousness started to slip away and then it stopped. He was dragged out of the water and out of the blazing room into freezing cold air, which pressed him finally into darkness.

He woke up in his cell. At the outside he was freezing but at the inside he was still burning but this time from hunger. The wraith curled up, whimpering softly and waited for death to come. Instead he got a shower from above, which slowly increased in strength. _Some more rain…_The prisoner let it wash over him; the water level rose quickly, he just floated. The down pour proved to be more intense than last time and the cell slowly filled with water.

His head got underwater and the death trance broke. _I am drowning! _He tried to convince his weak limbs to swim. They would not obey. He hit his head on the top of the door frame and was washed out of the cell. _She did not manage to repair the force field then. _The corridor was almost filled with mucky water. He resurfaced shortly and gasped for air. _I don't want to die just yet. _The current took him under again as well as washing him near the stairs. The will to survive gave him new strength and he forced his arms and legs to move dragging himself over a few steps and out of the water. There he collapsed, coughing feebly, spitting out a lot of water. Then the wraith realised that the creature was sitting next to him on the stairs watching him sadly. She still did not emit any darkness.

„How are you, Fluffy? There was genuine concern in her voice.

_What?!_

TBC


	9. Chapter 9

That chapter is a bit different. All who feel confused – don't worry, more will be explained in the chapter 11

**Chapter 9**

The wraith kept staring at his captor, who still just sat there looking at him with her pure white eyes and a strange expression on her face. He could not tell what emotion it was, he did also not really care about it; agony was ripping his body apart.

"You don't look well, are you very much in pain?" _Are you kidding?! _Only a weak groan left his mouth.

The creature sighed and laid her head onto her knees covering it with one hand and stayed in that position. "You know, pain is something dreadful." _You are telling me? Are you gone completely crazy now?_ "I never have had a headache before." There was suffering in her voice. _For that statement in that tone alone I would kill you, if I could move. Unfortunately I can't, so the knowledge that a headache makes you suffer has to suffice._ "I think I won't inflict more pain to you" _What is riding you? _"It seems committing to a solid body once and for all has some side effects I have to get used to." _What are you talking about? She is obviously not talking to me anymore, the creature is musing aloud._

The being looked up again, "Never mind, I need to get going." She closed her eyes, her expression went very serious but also distant. "He keeps screaming in distress in my head, Fluffy" her voice was full of sadness. _Voices in your head? Are you schizophrenic? I knew you are mad but…_ _That gets more mysterious by the moment. _The entity got up, gently picked him up and started to climb the stairs. _It's strangely comfortable in her arms. She is not cold anymore but comfortably warm, whatever happened to her?_ The creature carried the wraith down the corridor. "I have no idea were he is but his voice sounds extremely distant. Wonder if he has started screaming only recently or if I can hear more distant voices after transforming. Anyway finding him could take some time." The creature's voice was calm. "I just make sure you are alright before I leave." The last sentence was spoken in an almost friendly tone.

"W..what…?" his voice was barely a whisper. _Admit it to yourself you are too weak to talk._

"You seem confused. Did I not make myself clear?" The wraith lacked the strength to answer. She guessed the answer was no. "Your people are not the only one with telepathic abilities. I can hear a distress call. I need to answer it but have no idea where it is coming from. It is a bit unclear. I will need to go travelling to find out and that could take some time. You know, you are a good pet; I'd like to keep you. I just must see to it, that you survive my absence." The wraith got a mental laughing fit. _Maybe it would have been better to drown. _

They reached the place he had started to call the bathing chamber; the fire was still burning happily and emitted heat. "A bit hot in there" the entity smiled, "let's take a different passage." She turned around and climbed another flight of stairs, the wraith had not realised was there. He tried to memorize they way they went through the labyrinth of corridors at the top of the stairs. The prisoner knew exactly when they passed the place above the bathing chamber as the floor was hot. He could feel it on his back, even tough he was carried. Then they took they left turn leading to a steep cliff. The being jumped. If the wraith could have screamed, he would have, the bottom was too deep beneath them to survive the drop, even for a strong and healthy wraith. She must have seen his terror because she smiled and said: "Don't worry". A sudden jolt sent even more pain through his spine threatening to take away his conciseness. The creature had spread her wings and glided gently the last few feet to the floor. They ended up almost in front of the entrance to the chamber with the feeding machine.

This time she did not bother to chain him to the table, the wraith could not move, even if he wanted to, anyway. The entity cleaned his feeding hand with plain water then stuck the needles in. The prisoner laid there waiting with closed eyes. _Oh, that foreign life force does feel so wrong, but it is good to get something against the hunger. My wounds are healing again. At least I get a little time without pain. _The prisoner curled up to be more comfortable. The energy kept flowing. _It's nourishing me alright but I still don't like it very much. It lacks the feeling of ecstasy, it has no flavour to it. _The wraith felt the exotic energy in his body accumulate; he started to feel sick. _Sick because of too much feeding, that must be a record. Or not, I don't think it is stored properly like when I feed from humans._ He sat up.

"Enough?" his captor asked. The energy flow stopped. The prisoner felt tired instantly afterward. As the creature put him on his feet, they would not carry him. _Too exhausted._ She held him and pulled a light brown robe over his head. It almost reached his ankles and it was warm. Then he was picked up again and carried away. He tried to keep his eyes open to see were they were heading to. There were more stairs and corridors and always upwards, then they entered a room and he was set down on some warm reasonable soft material. The wraith could not keep his eyes open any longer. He felt being covered by a blanket and heard the clang of a metal door being closed. The creature was gone. _A comfortable place to rest at last._ Then sleep claimed him.

TBC


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10**

The wraith woke up being disorientated. _Where am I? What happened? _Then the memories about the near escape, the torture and the creature being strangely nice to him afterwards poured back into his brain. She had brought him here. He sat up and the blanket slid down to the floor. _Nice to be warm after all that cold._ His arms where pressed to his chest by the robe he was wearing. The prisoner shifted it back into its supposed position and put his arms into the sleeves. It was good clothing made of soft material and with lining.

The wraith looked around. He was sitting on a kind of sleeping platform, which was made of stone but in the top surface some material was embedded, which was a bit soft and felt warm. The room was bathed in bluish white light. The door leading to the corridor was made of metal bars, the door frame was fixed in the rock. The wraith could not resist and got up to feel along the stone edge. _Definitely stone, no muck, pity._ Then his look was drawn to the ceiling where six crystals were arranged in a circle, which were emitting the light. They were mesmerizing like the creature's eyes. Suddenly he felt the urge to touch them but alas his arms were too short to reach them. _Maybe if I jump?_ **Splash**. It sounded unnaturally loud to his ears and snapped him out of the trance. _Wow, what was that?_ He looked around and saw a stone basin at chest height in the corner next to the door. It was filled by the water dropping from the ceiling and so full it ran over. Just now he saw that the liquid from the basin had found its way through the door and flow out of sight in the corridor_. Just a water drop._ …_I am so used to wetness now, I did not even realise there is a little stream. But this cell is dry except for this. No muck here and no stench; I am too high up for flooding. Good to know. Well, back to these strange crystals on the ceiling. _He looked up again, in the middle of the cycle something was written in wraith letters:

Just in case you forget – don't touch the crystals except you want to be frightened to death.

The wraith read it astonished several times and then he remembered weakly, that when the creature carried him to this place, she had said something about some distant relatives she used as lightening as punishment for pissing her off. Had she said something about them tricking people into touching them, to kill them afterwards in their sleep? _Did she tell me a story about them with a semi amused voice? _The prisoner was not sure if he had imagined it or not, he had been half asleep back then. The entity had said other things too but he had not really listened, he had been so tired. The desire to touch them came back at him and he already had bent his knees to jump, when he shook himself and stepped away quickly. _Oh dear, I have to be on my guard around those._ The wraith went to the basin and splashed water in his face. _I am still filthy from the mucky water, I need a good wash._ He took off his robe and enjoyed washing his body with the clean cool water. Finally dirt-free the prisoner put his robe back on and decided to have a nap. _I really could do with some more rest._ The wraith picked up the blanket and curled up with it on the sleeping platform and drifted off to the land of dreams almost immediately.

o

The prisoner woke up to another eventless day or night, he had completely lost track of the time. _I am bored, I am so utterly bored. I crave for something, anything to happen._ The wraith got up and started to circle the cell. _How many rounds have I run? Hundreds? Thousands? _He went to the basin and had a sip of water, his look fell upon the door. _Where is your locking mechanism? _The horizontal bars holding together the longer vertical bars melted borderless into the frame. "What is your secret, door? Pity you can not talk with me."_ O dear, I am talking with a door. Am I going nuts? I have been alone for too long. Even the thought about the creature returning seems nice to me now. At least some company and some activity. _"Are you going to talk with me?" he addressed the crystals. No response came, but he did sense their malice and anger when he stepped underneath them. The emotions were so intense you could almost touch them; they had been ever since he had used them as target for pebble throwing. But that was amusing for just so long. Now the wraith avoided near contact with them whenever possible. He had come to the conclusion that the part about them frightening people to death was meant literally. There was not a thing he could do except running around, annoying the crystal beings and sleeping and that he did plenty. The wraith sighed and returned to his "bed" to lie down again. He settled down on his back wishing he could go back to sleep. The prisoner folded his hands on his belly. _I am becoming thin. I have lost a lot of weight. _Hunger was gnawing at his guts. _The last feeding did not last long. The storage of the absorbed energy is indeed not working well. Will I ever feed of a human again?_ Sleep would not come so quickly again as he had woken up just recently. He rolled onto his stomach, popped his chin into his hand and thought about the last conversation he had with the creature for the umpteenth time. _She is telepathic. She seems to feed from energy in her surroundings. She got a distress call and went looking for the source. So there are more of her kind._ _She underwent some sort of transformation and she did not know pain before. Mysterious. I should have listened more closely to what she was saying when I was carried here. But I was so exhausted. Did she say something about growing up and having duties now? Did that creature mention something about not being able to change size or form anymore? Agh, if I just could remember. Am I dealing here with a being in its puberty with way too much power? Would explain her unstable personality tough._ He changed to a foetal positionand pulled the blanket over him. Still thinking about the creature the wraith fell back into a light sleep.

A loud whining voice drifted into his slumber. He was wide awake at once. _Finally, something interesting is happening._ He could not make out what the voice was saying as it was still too distant.

"**Shut up" – **Silence

_That was definitely she. Has the creature found what she was looking for? Was the owner of the other voice the one she went to rescue? If so the two of them do not get along very well. _The wraith smiled briefly. _What will happen next? _He heard footsteps approaching. _Well, I soon will find out if it is going to be pleasant or unpleasant._

TBC

Thanks for reading my story. Sorry, the next chapter will take some time as it is difficult to write for me. Don't expect an update too soon.


	11. Chapter 11

Here we go, next chapter. I hope you enjoy it. Many Thanks to stealth dragon for helping me with it.

**Chapter 11**

The wraith went to the door curiously. He clasped the metal bars with both hands and tried to get a better look down the corridor to see the approaching duo as soon as possible. _I wonder if they are looking all the same. Has she started to radiate darkness again? Will the other? The voice sounded male. Will a male one look different from that female?_ When they finally came into view the wraith was astonished. The creature was dragging along a human with her favourite neck grip. The man looked terrified and held onto a black rectangular object as if it would rescue him. "I really don't know that relative of yours, you have to be mixing me up with somebody else" the human was pleading. The creature shook him. "How dare you assaulting a young one and then denying it!" she hissed dangerously. They had arrived in front of his cell and stopped, facing the wraith. The moment the man saw him every bit of colour drained from his face. He grinned. _At least I still have the same effect on humans. I just need to stretch out my hand and take what I need. _His look fell upon his captor. She looked murderous, but still did not cause darkness or cold to her environment. Her eyes glittered dangerously and her teeth were bared in anger. The wraith dropped the thought of feeding instantly and retreated. He did not come far, a concentrated look on the creature's side, the bars getting transparent and a violent throwing movement by the being later, the impact of the sent flying human colliding with him, pinned the wraith to the floor. The horrified human got up and staggered away from him but not without ramming his knee into the wraith's stomach in the process. He hissed in pain. "Sorry, I…I didn't meant to, to..." The wraith got back onto his feet, a single look was all it needed to silence the human. _You will pay for it soon. I will relish in your life-force. _From the corner of his eyes he saw the bars getting solid again which made the frame vibrate. Clang. _So that was the sound I heard. That door works differently than I thought. _The loud hissing exhaling of his captor brought him back to reality.

"I have changed my mind about inflicting pain again." Her voice was pure venom. _Surprise, surprise…_"I want you to suck him dry as slowly and painful as possible, for what he has done." _For what he has done … One moment …Did you just say he assaulted a young one?_ He looked at the man who had retreated into a corner next to the sleeping platform. _Have I underrated you? Does this pitiful sad little human know a way to fight creatures like her? That should be interesting to find out. Will he tell me or won't he because I am wraith. I supposedly will need to gain his trust to some extend. Arg, it also means I mustn't feed from him until I found out. Is this information important enough to endure my hunger any longer? And more important is it valuable enough to piss the creature even more off than she already is? It would not be a good idea to ask about the weaknesses of her kind in front of her._

"Feed" the entity demanded.

_Oh dear, here we go. _"You said I should do it slowly and with as much pain as possible, mistress,the knowledge that I will feed from him is antagonising him." _Are you buying that? Will you give me a moment alone with him or do you know that this will endanger you?_ The creature's expression changed from wrathful to tired. "What's the matter, Fluffy? I know you are hungry. I thought combining vengeance on that human and treating you to a proper meal would be welcomed to you. Are you trying to get one back at me by refusing to feed?" The wraith forced a smile on his lips. _Try to keep her happy._ "No, mistress, I just rejoice in the anticipation of the near end to my hunger." The man winced at that statement.

"You have rejoiced enough, Fluffy, get down to business." _What do I answer to that?_ He did not need to. The creature sighed and entered the cell by making the bars transparent again. "I am running out of patients, Fluffy. Why are you so reluctant to feed? What's wrong with you now? Never mind, I will make sure you need to take your fill and then I will be on my way." The being yawned, then quicker as the wraith could look, her right foot came down on his stomach knocking him to the floor, leaving three deep gashes according to her three clawed toes. They were bleeding heavily and the prisoner knew he had not the strength left to heal the damage without feeding. The creature stretched lazily and left the cell, the bars became solid again.

The wraith sat up groaning and pressed his left arm on the wound. _She knows how to force me to do what she wants. No way around feeding now. _He looked at the new addition to his cell. The human was still standing in the corner clutching to that black object. _Time to feed. Maybe the information can be forced from him while feeding. _He got on his knees and doubled over immediately, so he had to support himself with his blood smeared hands. _That is so humiliating. _The black object clattered to the floor, the human had let go of it at last. The wraith only heard it, he was busy gathering strength to stand up. Then he heard busy activity from the corner. _What ever you do human, you are doomed._ The prisoner slowly got up and dragged himself in the direction of the human.

"Stop …**stop** or I'll kill you" _Sure, little human_. The wraith looked up with a grin, which froze. He looked directly into the barrel of a projectile weapon. _Great, why capture and serve me a human without taking away his gear. You have taken away all mine._ The human still looked afraid and rather jumpy. _I don't fancy being pierced by projectiles. I am also too weak to overpower him like that. So no feeding right now. _The wraith corrected his course and slumped on his bed. _I won't survive very long without feeding. The blood loss is quite severe. _He looked at the man. He had short brown hair, was a bit overweight, wore some kind of uniform and still pointed the weapon nervously at him. _Maybe I should frighten him a little more so he will shoot me. It will be a quicker death than through starvation and blood loss. Na, I am not quite ready for death yet. _They stared at each other and an uncomfortable silence settled down in between them. The black blood slowly soaked his garment. _But as much as I dislike it, death is not far off._

TBC


	12. Chapter 12

So finally the next chapter. It was a bit difficult to write for me. I hope you enjoy it. Many, many thanks to stealth dragon, who helped me to make this chapter better.

**Chapter 12**

"So, you're Fluffy?" The human's high pitched voice sounded awkward into the silence.

_Off all the questions to ask human. _The wraith hissed irritated. "**No!**" was his furious answer. The man jerked at the forceful reply, the gun shaking in his hands. "That is a name she made up." He nodded into the direction of the door.

"Oh, and I …I thou…thought Sheppard was bad at naming wraith."

_Sheppard?! This is a Lantian? What did they do to piss her off? Well, let's ask. Maybe I get the information after all. _He inhaled deeply. "How did you assault one of her kind?"

"I don't know. I have never seen this species before."

_I can see in his face that he is telling the truth. Great all this for nothing. _He moaned._ Well at least some company before I bleed to death._

"What did you do to get yourself captured? Did you step into her vegetable pitch as well?"

"Veg…Vegetable pitch? What, what are you talking about? I haven't seen a vegetable pitch in months. I m…mean of course people are mad if somebody trample into their vegetable pitch. Gardening is a lot of work, isn't it? Not that I ever did a gardening. But imprisoning somebody for spoiling your veg bed? Isn't that a bit too harsh a reaction? He glanced unsurely at the wraith. Are you… are you making fun out of me? The human swept sweat from his forehead with his sleeve. Then put his hand back onto the gun to stop it shaking.

_Wow you spit out a load of nonsense in a short time. You are terrified. I can inhale the sweet sent of it with every breath. Calm down again before you pull the trigger accidentally _"I am talking about red leaved trees with thorns on them." _I am tired. I hardly can keep my eyes open anymore._

"The ones that c…cause strange energy readings?"

_Keep your voice calm. Don't intimidate him further. _"I do not know. I did not particularly care about them at the time of my capture."

"Oh, okay. Well, she captured me while I was examining red leaved thorny trees, so…so I guess yes. She came out of nowhere. It was really scary. Just fell out of the sky, snatched me viciously and carried me off. I still hurt everywhere from the force of that …that thing carrying me through the air. I never ever want to travel like that again. I am terrible with heights and she flew high…really high and wild. Countless hooks, you know, to escape the gunfire from my team. O my god, they could've actually hit her, I…I could have crashed down onto the ground. I could have died. I…they…" The wraith hissed loudly. _I get a headache from all that rubbish. _The human jumped. "Oh, you don't…don't want to hear about it. Sorry…"

Silence returned. _Arg. Way too talkative human._ _So no poisonous dart with this capture. Ow, I am in pain and ever so hungry but there is no chance to feed of him without ending up being pierced to death by projectiles as long as he is pointing that weapon at me._

"Why did you call that monster, well, you know … mistress?"

_You just can't be silent. _"To save your worthless life, human." The wraith snapped. The man jolted and almost pulled the trigger of the gun. _Too forceful. I need to be more cautious_ _while communicating with him to avoid additional holes in my body. _"Keep the captor happy and do everything she wants is a good rule to survive in here. You can see I suck at it." He forced a smile on his lips.

"Oh" the human said lowering his look uncomfortably. He moved a pebble on the floor around with his foot. The gun was a bit lowered now, not pointing directly at the wraith anymore. _If I would be able to get up, I would feed of you instantly._

"Do you …do you know how she activates the stargate without a DHD? P_athetic try to change the topic._

"That being is strange in many ways. For example she ran around inflicting darkness to her environment, sucking the light up. A walking shadow in a manner of speaking. But not any more." _Talking is straining, that's not a good sign._

The human did not response to that, which surprised the wraith. _You seemed so chatty, why no response now? _The man'slook was vacant for a moment then he started to run up and down excitedly. "I knew it. I knew the energy readings were similar to something I had seen before." _Stop pointing at me with your finger_ "I just could not remember where exactly. They are remarkably similar to the ones of the containment vessel the Ancients captured the dark entity in, which escaped accidentally." _No need to__click__your fingers either. _"Of course, the trees are the natural energy source for those beings. That also explains the vegetable pitch thing."

"That is unimportant, human" the wraith sucked in air deeply, "how did you fight these creatures?"

The man stopped dead and looked at the wraith shocked: "Fight?" Fear was showing again on his face. _Have you gotten so excited that you have forgotten where and with whom you are? You are way too easily absorbed with an idea. _"Yes fight, human. Have you already forgotten she brought you here because you assaulted one of her kind?"

"You mean what I did with it after I figured out it fed from energy? We rotated the activity the power generators. When the entity reached one, we… we turned it off and switched another on. A bit like the carrot on the stick in front of the horse thing, really. But I suppose that does not mean anything to you?" The human smiled nervously at the wraith; sweat still coming down his forehead. "Finally, when it started attacking people to get energy, I tricked it into leaving our base, by sending the only energy source we left active through the gate."

"That's all?" The wraith could not keep silent any longer. "You are boasting about throwing an item through the gate. This is pathetic." _How disappointing. That strategy is of no use whatsoever with a creature who does not even seem to need a dialling device to use the gate. But as she said something about being grown up and she needed to rescue the young being, I suppose that is an ability which comes with age._

"No, no, no you don't understand. It wasn't all that easy." The man made little circles with his free hand into the air. "The entity filled the whole gateroom." _Still no need to point with your finger at me. _"I had to step into it to get the device through the gate. It almost got me killed"

_You are annoying_ "Drop it, human, that is not interesting" the wraith sighed. _Wait_ He jolted upright."Did you just say you stepped into the entity?" His sudden movement triggered the human to grasp his gun with both hands again and aiming it anew at the wraith, stopping every other activity.

"Yes. Yes, and it was all wired and scary..." "So it was not solid," the wraith interrupted.

"N…n…no?" _So scared. _

"That is interesting because the grown up is." He tried to sound as none terrifying as he could then he had to suck in air sharply. _So much pain. I start to feel dizzy._

"What d…do you mean with grown up?" The gun shook in his hands.

"The creature mentioned something about being grown up and she is solid." _Calm down human before you do something stupid._

"Wow, A …a species that is pure energy in its youth and later on has a body. No wonder the ancients wanted to research them. That's like a reversed ascension. This…this is amazing" _That guy is talking himself into excitement again. If you would not still hold on to your weapon and I could move properly, I would feed on you just to shut you up._

"Shut up, human." _I am tired of hearing you talking. That is all useless information._

The human jumped. _Too forceful again. _The wraith tried to smile reassuringly and the human took a few deep breaths to calm down. "Why are you keeping me calling human in every second sentence?" _You did not get the point of my demand. Never mind. Probably that is the last conversation I will ever have._

"Are you not human?" he asked annoyed.

"S…Sure I am but I've a name as well, you know, …Rodney McKay." _Why do you humans have to name everything, including yourselves? _The wraith snorted in reply.

Rodney MyKay looked alarmed. "Hm, then not. I… I suppose you won't tell me your name then, except for Fluffy of course, which isn't your real name anyway and you got it from a creature you don't like so maybe I shouldn't call you so…" The vicious hissing stopped him from continuing.

"Okay, okay, got the point." the human decided on getting more distance between himself and the wraith and holding on tightly to his firearm he backed away, thereby crossing the middle of the cell. The wraith could see how the negative emotions of the crystals made him shiver. Rodney looked up: "What's;…crap t…this day hates me so completely." He wanted to pull away but the beings on the ceiling worked their spell swiftly and he forgot everything but the desire to touch them. The wraith was taken aback when the human called Rodney McKay lowered his weapon. Then he realised what was going on as the man bent his knees to jump._ Seems he falls for the creature's relationship as well. They are as full of malice and supposedly sadistic as she is. Nobody deserves to suffer for the fun of another being._ **"Hey, snap out of it!" **_Ow, the agony of shouting._The shocked human stumbled backwards and fell over." It is not a good idea to touch them, I guess it could kill you" the wraith added calmly.

"Oh, crap, crap, crap t…that was too close." The man crawled backwards waving around with his gun dangerously. "They already killed me once, I…I have no desire to repeat that." _The human is in shock, he does not know what he is talking about anymore. On the other hand he rumbled a lot of nonsense before as well. _"Calm down, human" _Oh dear, he is so shaken; he doesn't even acknowledge my presence._ "**Rodney McKay,** calm down!" The man finally snapped back to reality, got on his feet and pointed his weapon at the wraith again. But he kept glimpsing nervously back at the crystals at the ceiling.

"They cannot move, as long as you do not touch them they are perfectly harmless."

"H…h….harmless?! You don't know what you are talking about. They are absolutely evil, torturing people with nightmares. Have you any…any idea what they put me through. They killed me and the most awful thing was…"

"**Stop** and calm down." The interruption made the already shaking human jerk again. The wraith added with a calm voice: "Be reasonable. You are standing here alive, they cannot possibly have killed you."

"I was resuscitated. Ex…Excellent doctor, you know."

"Oh" was the only responds the wraith could think of. _Interesting._ "So the warning about them frightening people to death was really meant literally. The crystals almost managed to do that to you without you even touching them. Are they really so bad?"

"Bad?! I don't think bad quit cuts it. May be dreadful or terrifying or, or nightmarish…"

"Yeah, I know how that feels" the wraith interrupted, "I had the same experience with that creature. Words are just no sufficient to describe what she put me through. Seems as if the crystals and she have some things in common even tough they are only related distantly."

"I…I have never heard a wraith talking like that. Is it really that …hm…**bad**? The wraith answered with a sad smile. Rodney looked uncomfortable at the floor. "Oh, by the way, thanks for saving me from touching the crystals." _That sounded as if it came over your lips with great difficulty. _"You are welcome."

"Why did you do it?" _Finally you seem to relax a bit._

"Nobody should be tortured solely for the entertainment of another being." He smiled again sadly.

McKay tried to give the wraith a smile as well but it ended in a grimace. "Um different question: How do we get out of here?"

"We?" the wraith asked astonished "Do you really think I still would be here if I knew a way out?" _So exhausted and in pain._

"True, well, if I can figure a way to open the door and I will as the entrance is a piece of technology, could you find the way out? She blindfolded me on the way in." The wraith grinded his teeth together. _Such agony and my strength is fading with every blood drop I loose._

"Oh, come on you just helped me and you must know your way round here. You've been here a while, haven't you?"

_That Rodney just does not give up. _"A bit" he admitted.

"Good. So what about an alliance to escape?"

_Have I sunken so deep to work together with a human? The very thing I despised and hunted down another wraith for. Am I really that desperate?_ The wraith did not have to make a decision as the blood loss took its toll and he groaning lost consciousness sagging onto the bed completely.

TBC

Writing this story was a nice holiday activity for me but they are drawing to an end. University will have me back on Monday and it is going to be really busy. So the updates of this story probably will slow down. But don't worry I will finish this story, it is just going to take a while longer than I expected it to take.


	13. Chapter 13

Many thanks to stealth dragon again for reassuring me that Rodney sounds like Rodney and I am not completely off character.

**Chapter 13**

**Bang!**The wraith sat up rapidly in shock and the blanket which covered him slid down to his waist. _What the hell is going on? _He got aware of the human aiming his weapon on the door. _Insane man, have you managed to set off your projectile weapon at last? Oh, no, no, no this will bring the creature down on me again for sure. PAIN, some much pain…_"Spawn of lunacy, what are you doing?" he roared his agony out. Rodney jumped even further than the wraith thought possible. The momentarily strength the shock had given him drained from his body leaving him weak and exceedingly dizzy so he collapsed back onto the bed. "G…g…getting us out?" came the weak reply from the shaken human, who was as white as a sheet. The wraith looked at him in utter disbelief. "Fool, you are begging Miss I like to torture people for fun for punishment" he croaked exhausted. _So weak and starving. What have you done? What have you done? I dread the consequences. _

"See, that's exactly the point why we need to get out of here. That thing is going to come back and do terrible things to you and…" the man swallowed nervously "… m…me, isn't she? I can't wait till my team rescue me. It's going to be too late than. They don't know the address of this planet. They were too far away from the DHD to see it and…and Zelenka will need at least a few days to figure out which gate addresses where dialled last and then they still don't know which one is the right one. My team will need to search several planets and that's just going to take too long. No, no I need to escape myself. Did I mention that I'm claustrophobic?"

The wraith let the human's voice wash over him; he was too fatigued to care about the newest rant. He sluggishly moved his hand to his stomach to examine the wound hoping against all hope that it at least had healed to some extend. As his fingertips brushed his abdomen he halted in surprise and touched it with his whole hand again. _What happened here…I have bandages on my gashes?_ He looked questioning to the human. "Have you done this to me?" The wraith slowly massaged his aching tummy.

"What? Oh, yeah…I took the liberty to stop the bleeding. I happened to have some first aid stuff. Hope you don't mind." Rodney smiled at him hopefully.

The wraith had not time for more than a sigh as reply as growling could be heard in the corridor. "I will make you regret being born for disturbing my rest" a hissing voice announced. A sudden inspiration following the wraith threw his blanket over the black object, which had fallen to the floor near the bed and got up on his shaking legs._It is going downhill with me. I won't be able to keep up long._

The creature rushed into the cell looking infuriated at the trembling wraith. "How dare you being noisy during my sleep." Her voice was pure venom. The wraith overcome by sudden boldness answered: "What did you think would come out if you lock a starving wounded wraith and an armed human together?" His feet would not carry him any longer and he sank down to the floor on his knees and hands. The being charged at Rodney McKay, who shrank back into a corner. She ripped his combat vest off, forced the gun out of his grip and used its handle to knock him on the head. He fell to the floor unconsciously.

The wraith limbs now would not even do him the favour to support his weight on all fours and he crumpled to the floor. He looked terrified into the approaching creature's eyes. She just grabbed him along with the confiscated items and carried him away. The wraith waited limply in her clasp for whatever torture she had in store for him now, not caring anymore what was happening or were they were going.

He was thrown roughly at a metal table and the pain caused through needles being shoved into his feeding slit carelessly rivalled the pain in his abdomen Slowly it dawned on him that he was under the feeding machine for a third time. "You're such a wimp. Not even able to feed from a puny human." _Ow, that hurts my ego. But you are probably right._ The wraith grimaced. The apparatus was switched on shortly, just enough to heal his wounds. _More, please more! I am still desperately hungry._ The creature picked him up again. "That should be enough for you to finish your job."

Rodney just opened his eyes, moaning about a massive headache when the wraith was tossed into the cell violently. "If I hear another sound from you I'll kill you in the most painful way I can think of" the creature threatened. Then she turned around and hurried away. The wraith got to his knees groaning.

"S…sorry for getting you in trouble. What…what are you going to do now?" the man's frightened voice was barley a whisper.

The wraith moved his look from the door frame to Rodney grinning: "Putting my finger into the projectile hole."

TBC

Sorry guys I know that chapter is a bit short but that moment seemed to be the right one to start a new chapter. I am drawing nearer to the point of the story where I need to decide where it is going. What would you like to see? Would you like to see some more Rodney-Wraith interaction, should they be rescued by the team as quickly as possible, (evil grin) should I kill them all…no I certainly won't do that. Just let me know what you would like to see happening.

Another thing: If sombody has ideas how to name the chapters, sugestions are most welcome.


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter 14**

"You are doing what?!" The utter disbelief in the humans voice made him chuckle. _Funny how such little things are capable of amusing me lately._ Still kneeing he returned his attention to the tiny hole the projectile had left a finger's width from the door frame. The wraith was sure he had seen something in there, something reflecting light. The opening was so small that only the tip of a nail could be forced in. Its height was just right to do so in his current position. He applied pressure on the gap by leaning on his finger and the stone began to crumble under his weight. _Judging by all those cracks around the hole the impulse of the projectile was high. It has a lot of potential to cause damage; luckily the bullet hit the wall and not me. The hole is almost at the same height as one of the horizontal bars. Did you try to hit that with your weapon? Your aim is terrible._ He grinned fiercely then looked at Rodney who had gotten up and was now watching him curiously. The rock suddenly gave way and his finger penetrated the wall receiving a few scratches. The wraith taken by surprise pulled it out and examined the damage. _Great, I am so weak even those minor scratches won't heal._ The bleeding cuts brought his mind back on the fact that he still was desperately hungry and he glanced at the human. _So near and so far away …and you have no weapon anymore but you're faster and stronger than me now. So hungry…_A glittering in the crack caught his attention. _Ah, part of a control crystal. But what exactly is it controlling?_ The wraith wormed his finger back into the hole and started to break down the wall gravel by gravel. _Starving…_ _I need to occupy my mind with other things or I'll go insane. _The rock was hard but brittle and it neither took a lot of energy nor a lot of time to widen the gab to a palm's size. He tilted his head and examined the secret inner life of the door frame. _Damn it, from what I can see it's another ridiculous assembly of random crystals. I doubt I can figure its function out in the time I have left. This locking mechanism is a lot more complex than the force field in my old cell._ Hunger forced him to sit down and despair made him slide to the floor completely. Laying there facing the door, he stared at the solid metal bars. _You are mocking me. Showing me what technology is behind the frame but still keeping your secrets. I hate you, door._ _Having another conversation with the door? I'm going mad, completely insane…_

"Clever wraith" _What?!_ He had almost forgotten about the human, who was now standing with his back to him. Rodney had the blanket in his hands and looked happily at the computer pad underneath it. He was completely unaware of his cell mate's breakdown. The wraith snarled, if looks could kill Dr. McKay would have dropped dead instantly_. I will not accept being taunted by a human. _Said human spun around and was taken aback to see the wraith on the floor.

"Are you okay?"

The wraith groaned. _How dump a question is that. You should get an award for ridiculous enquiries. I'm burning with hunger. If I just could reach you, human. _He moved his hand a bit towards his food source but did not get far. His hand quit its service and sank shaking to the floor in exhaustion.

"Sorry, of course you're not alright. You've been tortured recently, haven't you? You…you look really dreadful and you are shaking. Are you cold? It's cold in here so I suppose being cold is quite normal. What did she do to you anyway?"

_Tiring human hold your tongue. _"Quit talking." His voice was raspy and sounded almost human. _So weak and starving. If you would come near me human…_

Rodney McKay stared at the blanket in his hand for a moment. "Uh,… would you like your blanket. It'll help with the cold."

"Yes." _Are you foolish enough to come near me?_

The human came across the room with the blanket. _Yes, come nearer…_ the man was almost there, the wraith tensed his muscles to be able to respond swiftly when the human came in reach._ Come nearer, just another little bit. If only I would lie the other way facing the cell. It would be so much easier to get you. When are you right at my back so that I can finally feed from you? Oh yes feed, feed…easing my hunger. I can feel you approaching me. Now it's time to get up._

He summoned all the strength he had left to rise from the floor. The wraith was almost on his elbows when the blanked descended on him, the additional weight pressing him to the floor again. _NO!_ _That isn't happening. _He moaned in frustration. McKay was completely oblivious to the wraith's attempt to get up. On contrary he crouched down and tucked him in properly which left the wraith aggravated and unable to move. _"I am going to quote you here human: This day hates me so completely. _

In the meantime Rodney had inspected the crystals revealed by the hole in the wall.

"This looks really interesting. You did a good job there uncovering them." He smiled at the wraith who was lying under the blanket with closed eyes. "Um, you know, I just hook my computer up with it and see what I can find out and you rest a bit. You look like you need some sleep."

The wraith heard semiconscious how the human pottered about with the crystals and his computer pad interrupted by muttering. He was too exhausted to make sence of Rodney's latest rant but it included the words brilliant, amazing, unusual and taking out of phase…_Taking out of phase? What's that supposed to mean…_then he drifted off to an uneasy sleep.

He woke up feeling slightly better; the human was typing away on the computer pad ignoring him. Countless crystals in all colours and sizes were scattered on the floor. _How long have I slept? He has been quite busy. Oh no, if the creature comes, this mess can't be hidden. Hopefully she has a great need for rest and won't come back for a long time. _"How is it going?" His voice was barley a whisper.

McKay's head jerked up: "Huh, you almost gave me a heart attack." He glared at the wraith who closed his eyes again. "Oh, well progress is slow but it's coming. That's a piece of really advanced technology. It takes the metal bars out of phase so that you can pass through them. I mean moving things into another dimension can be done aright but to simply use it as a door? Anyhow, the main problem at the moment is that it seems it's mentally controlled and I've trouble to interface the controls with my computer. So settle back, that's going to take a while." With that Dr. McKay went back to his work. _Taking out of phase…other dimension…insane to use technology like that for locking prisoners in. I hate to admit that this human with his black computer pad is more at ease with such technologies than I am. Maybe he will indeed find a way out. I feel tired again. I'll have another nap._

Something was tugging at his mind. He opened his eyes sleepily. "What is going on?" The human jumped: "Good grief, stop startling me!"

"Hm. What are you doing?"

"Still fitting a round brick into a square form so go and annoy somebody else."

The wraith growled. "Watch you tongue, human."

The man got pale when he realised again to whom he was actually talking. "S…sorry" _You better be. So now what is going on here, what do I feel? _"Did you say the control is regulated mentally?"

"Yes, a normal authorized user would wish the bars in and out of phase."

_I wonder…well it's wor__th a try. I…WANT…THE…BARS…TO…BE…OUT…OF…PHASE! _

Rodney McKay looked up in shock. "What did you do?"

"Wishing the bars to be transparent."

"Wow, you actually did it. Are you telling me you could've done that all along? Why did you let me work on this thing for hours? Do you know…"

"Rodney, calm down" he interrupted irritated. "Do you really think I still would be here if I could have done that all the time? You tempered with the interface."

"Oh" The man looked uncomfortable. "Well,… the door is open now. Let's go before the creature decides to drop by." He stepped over the wraith and went into the corridor. "What is it? Aren't you coming?" _Very funny!_ Then the image of the being's evil grin appeared in his mind sending a shiver down his spine. _She will not allow me to die; the torture will go on and on. Better to die trying to escape._ The wraith got up with great difficulty on shaky legs and staggered after the human using the wall as support.

TBC

Reviews please :-)


	15. Chapter 15

Oh, I finished that chapter quicker than I thought. Might has something to do with all our lessons being cancelled today ;-)

**Chapter 15**

He was completely out of breath although he had walked only a few steps and had to lean on the wall heavily. _Everything burns, not enough air, I'm suffocating. _The human had gone on and vanished out of his sight. The wraith forced his muscles to move on but after another five steps a wave of dizziness brought him to his knees. He sagged against the rock panting, not getting enough air into his protesting lungs.

"What's keeping you so long? We need to escape from here as quickly as possible without attracting any attention" the returned Rodney whispered glancing around nervously. "Didn't you say you knew your way around here? There is a maze of corridors ahead. I kept my part of the bargain now it's your turn" he silently urged on.

_That's not strictly true human. Oh, how I long to relish in your life-force, I just need to stretch out my arm now to ease my hunger and your sweet screams will caress my ears. And how you will scream…_he smiled_…_ _If I hear another sound from you I'll kill you in the most painful way I can think of_…her voice was echoing in his mind and his smile faded as quickly as it had come…_I won't be able too feed without attracting attention unwished for…damn. I don't know what's worse: starving to death during an attempted escape with food right in front of my nose or easing my hunger thereby condemning myself to eternal torture. …I recognise that stone pattern over there we are heading the right way. I think I'll take my chances with escape._ The wraith growled and forced himself to stand up again struggling to move towards the familiar pattern; Dr. McKay followed him.

_Keep moving, just keep moving…_his breath came in short gasps and his sight was starting to get blurred. They arrived at a flight of stairs leading downwards_. I am not able to keep going for much longer…concentrate…the edge of the second step has a crack, good it's the correct stairs. It was worth keeping my eyes open memorizing the way up here. _He moved his aching leg onto the first step but it did not want to carry him any longer and gave way. The wraith fell, faster and faster he went rolling down the stairs. At a slight curve he smashed into the wall and something snapped making a horrible sound; he curled up in a tight ball to protect his limbs as well as his head and plunged further down. The wraith came to a sudden halt with a sickening crack as he collided with the floor at the bottom. He tasted blood in his mouth and sucked air in sharply, overwhelmed with agony.

Rodney reached him puffing: "O my god, o my god… " He saw the wraith stir feebly. "Stop shocking me like that. Are you alright?"

The wraith spat out the accumulated blood and grunted. _Do I look alright?_

"You know, you and I have very different ideas how escaping without attracting attention looks like" Dr. McKay scolded him.

_Now you're going too far human. _The fury brought him back on his legs and he gave the man a murderous look as well as hissing dangerously. Rodney backed away raising his hands protectively: "Hey, hey no offence meant." _I better use my strength on escaping instead of wasting it with you human. You're absolutely useless to me now. _The wraith turned and stumbled down the corridor one hand supportive on the rock. The human followed him in a respectful distance. _Walking is pure agony. What was that? _He looked up and saw a panel embedded in the wall. Next to it was an archway into a room. The wraith peeked into the chamber. _I just can't believe what sick idea has entered my mind…anyhow that could be helpful …but am I really so in despair to do this to myself?...__**Yes I am desperate enough.**_ _Let's see if that works out._

"Rodney…" his voice was hoarse and weak. _Talking is way too tiring. But I must. _"Can …you…operate…this …control?"

"Are you kidding?" _No, please be able to._ "That's a simple Ancient on/off switch. Of course I can operate it: Why do you want to know?" _I don't have the strength left to debate with you. _He looked weakly almost pleading at the human, let go of the wall and dragged himself in the direction of the metal table. Something caught his toes and he fell. Frustrated he looked around and saw that it was the garment the creature had taken from McKay. Rodney saw it at the same time and hurried to him to remove it from his foot. "Oh, th…thanks for finding that for me again." He smiled nervously at the wraith. _I am too exhausted to care._ He got on his knees and started crawling towards the table, too weak to walk anymore. The wraith collapsed into a sitting position against a table leg and grabbed the needles which were still dangling from the ceiling on their tubes. Unconsciousness threatened to take him. _I can't believe what I am doing here…. Just hang on a little longer. You can sleep for the rest of your life as long as you keep awake right now. Concentrate, concentrate…how where these assembled in my feeding slit?_ He struggled to reconstruct the needle assembly to the best of his abilities while the human searched through the many pockets of his vest chatting away happily.

_I hope this is correct and it will work. Sorry I need to disturb your favourite a__ctivity, Rodney but you can chat away later on. _"Rod…" his voice failed him but it was enough to get the man's attention.

"What's up?" He came over to the wraith who saw him chewing on some sustenance. _Ah, you're doing the very thing I want to do._ Rodney eyed him curiously. "What's that supposed to be?" He pointed at the needles stuck in the wraith's hand. "Why did you do that to yourself?" He tried to answer but no sound came out of his mouth so he only nodded then the last bit of strength left him and he slid to the floor. _Please human, you were smart enough to get that door into another dimension, now switch on the feeding machine._

A hum told him the man had indeed figured out what to do. _Aaahhh, feeding has never felt so good. I did assemble the whole thing correctly then. I would never have thought that such a ghastly imitation of life-force would make me feel so grateful…. It's already starting to accumulate again. Time to pull the needles. _And he did.

"So, what was that about?" _You really should receive an award for dumb questions. _

"Numbing my hunger."

"Oh, well, that's certainly a good thing but would it have hurt you to tell me beforehand what you were up to?" _Just can't hold your tongue, can you? I still feel so dizzy and I'm ever so tired. _He tried to stand up and failed. _So exhausted._

Rodney watched surprised how the wraith struggled to get up. "I thought feeding would make you strong again but at the moment it doesn't look like it."

"I said numb not satisfy" he shot back irritated. _Another statement like that and I'll kill you, that is if I can get up. _He smiled ruefully. _I doubt I am able to._

"Oh" was the human's only comment then he turned around and gathered his gear. Afterwards Rodney came back and stared at the wraith who still lay crumbled on the floor.

"I just can't believe what I am about to do." He bent down and dragged him into a standing position then put the wraith's arm around his shoulder to support him.

He looked dumb folded at the human. _If somebody had told me that __**that **__was going to happen to me today after I woke up, I would have declared him insane. _

"Ug, you're heavy." McKay's statement interrupted his musings. He chuckled silently. "What's so funny?" the human enquired. The wraith sighed. "My weight hits an all-time low at the moment. I am a bit starved, you see." _Good to hear that my voice does not sound human anymore. The feeding machine gave me energy it's just its side effects which make me so exhausted. I shall overcome them._

"I'm sorry to hear that." The human pulled a face. _Oh, now you get concerned about my hunger. You have been in grave danger the bigger part of the day and the very instant the danger decreases you get frightened… you amuse me._

"So, which way do we go?" _Hm, you're trying to hide your fear nicely._

"To the right."

TBC

Please leave a review!


	16. Chapter 16

Ok, here is the next chapter. The part of Rodney wraith on the way to the exit turned out to be longer than I planed and will fill another chapter. I hope the human/ wraith interaction fans like how this turned out but if I am writing that too long and it gets boring please tell me.

**Chapter 16**

The corridor proved to be rather long. _If anything, the feeding made my exhaustion worse. My eyes just won't stay open. My body hardly obeys anymore. At least my injuries won't bother me anymore but if this human wouldn't drag me along I still would have a lie-down on the floor of the feeding chamber, endangered to be found by this creature. _The wraith clenched his teeth and sucked air in sharply as well as forcing his eyelids open once more. His look fell upon Rodney whose face was covered in sweat because of the effort it took him to carry all the extra weight. _This is so humiliating .Being dependant on a weak little human. Arg, desperate situations call for desperate measures and this are desperate circumstances. As much as I hate all this crap, I'll better swallow it and get on with it._ Then the man got aware of his gaze.

"Having a nice nap?" he asked sarcastically.

Tiredness pressed the wraith's eyes shut again. _I am even too worn out to care about your silly questions._ He put his whole attention back into continuing to drag his feet along the floor leaning heavily on the human. The sudden stop of Rodney walking and shifting his grip almost sent the wraith tumbling to the floor. Then a hand patted his cheek gently. He hissed irritated. _How dare you?_

"Hey, **hey** I need you to wake up for a moment. Come on open your eyes, which way do we take?"

The tired wraith forced his eyes open once more. To the left as well as to the right a dark passage was heading off and the main corridor split into two ways a little further on. _What?!...' §!_ His eyes widened in shock._ I have been unconscious the first time she brought me to the feeding machine and the other route was somewhere high up, I did not even realise where the ceiling extended up to that hole, the rock has the same smoothness everywhere, it would have been futile to try climbing up there anyway. But which way to take? _He looked up and down the four different routes helplessly. The long silence got Rodney suspicious.

"Oh, no, no, no you can't tell me that you have lost your way. I haven't carried you along all the way just for you to tell me that you don't know where to go. Oh god, we… we're lost in the middle of labyrinth belonging to a torture crazy monster…. We're so screwed."

The wraith listened to the nervous rumble of the human and saw how he glanced around panicking. _Screwed indeed._ He inhaled deeply to calm himself down and his eyes narrowed in surprise. _There is a hint of burnt ash to the air.…__**the bathing chamber**_He turned around sniffing to determine where the smell was coming from. _Probably from the right passage way but maybe also from straight ahead, just one way to find out._

"Ah…Rodney…stop panicking and…hmm…help me to have a look at the fork." _I hate asking for help. I didn't think I ever could sink so low to have to ask it from a human._

"What?!...oh, …hm…yes sure."

The first of the stale air told him that these corridors were not used often and the air smelled dusty and not burnt.

"Stop"

"W…What is it?" the human looked around alarmed again, his hand shot to his holster. It was then that the wraith realised that obviously McKay had found his projective weapon along with his garment in the feeding chamber.

"Calm down, Rodney, I am now certain it was the right passage we just passed."

"Oh" the human looked a bit sheepishly and turned around slowly to give his fellow escapee the chance to do the same. Then they ventured down the indicated corridor, the wraith probing the air excitedly as the scent of ash became stronger. _Ah, as unpleasant as this incident was, the stress woke me up to some extend. Walking is easier now._ He followed the smell leading the human through the network of crossing corridors still holding on to the man's shoulder for balance.

"You seem better" Rodney's voice disturbed the complete silence of the labyrinth. The wraith nodded. _Wow, not a good idea, I feel dizzy again. _He clasped stronger to McKay's shoulder.

"Ow, what's the matter now?"

"Dizzy"

"Oh, okay, but that's still no reason to pierce my skin with your claws. Seriously you need some manicure." He looked bewildered at the human who carried on: "Have you ever thought about cutting your nails?"

"I am a predator, Rodney McKay, why would I want to remove one of my hunting tools? By the way our conversation may attract attention unwished for." The human gave a short nod and they kept on walking silently.

Interlude (if you are not interested read on with the story right after the underlined part):

My grandfather just peeked over my shoulder to see what I am writing and made following suggestion for the next sentence:

He was very happy and said: "Good bye, darling"

:D LOL couch, couch, laughing fit

But I have to admit that this straight sentence was quite an achievement for my granddad as he doesn't speaks English very well.

The system of passageways proved to be extensive. Rodney kept glancing around nervously for any sign of pursuit but everything stayed calm. The wraith was too tired to be bothered.

"That's like a termite hill" the human muttered. _You are incapable of keeping your mouth shut. _He took another nose full of air to determine the way.

"Could you stop breathing so peculiar? You remind me of the dog I once had when it was following the trail of a bitch in heat." _How dare you talking like that to me?_ The wraith growled viciously.

"Uh, s…sorry." The man hurriedly got away a few steps from the wraith reaching for his weapon while being stared at furiously.

He scowled at the human. _How pathetic_. Then a new fit of dizziness forced him to lean onto the wall for support. The wraith hid his face with one hand. _Please not now. …Arg, I still need that human._

"Are…are you alright?" came the tentative enquiry from Rodney.

"I will be. Just stop insulting me." He shook his head to get it clear again. "Put away your weapon and come over here so that I can hold onto your shoulder again" the wraith added grumpily.

"Oh, so…so you're not mad at me anymore? …Okay." He carefully drew nearer the wraith who extended his arm and put it on McKay's shoulder for support again. Rodney relaxed slightly and put away his gun. They started walking again.

"So w…what was that snuffling thing about?"

_It's unbelievable, you cannot be silent. _"Is it possible that you are talking non stop when you are frightened?" he asked somewhat irritated. The human winced. "M…maybe"

"I should say certainly." The wraith signed putting his free hand to his forehead. _I'm getting a headache._ "You should be glad that my sense of smell is so much better than yours. To use one of your words: I am snuffling the way out."

"Oh, okay." Then silence returned as they carried on walking. Shortly afterwards the corridor became wider and the orange light of a chamber poured into it. The sight made the wraith's bowels cramp together in terror.

TBC


	17. Chapter 17

So here is the rewritten version. Many thanks to night animal, who helped me to make this chapter better.

**Chapter 17**

There stood the stone tub, still with some water left in it. Or maybe refilled after the inferno was over. The smell of ash was thick in the air and the memory of being skinned alive with a rough brush made cold sweat trickle down the Wraith's back. He felt the strong urge to turn around and flee from the sight of the chamber. _Hell, what's happening to me?_

The human felt the Wraith slowing down and going all rigid. "What's the matter?" he asked in a hushed voice glancing around uneasily, his hand fumbling to get the weapon out.

_Come on, calm down, calm down. That's just a room; the torturer is nowhere near here. No reason whatsoever to get anxious._ The Wraith swallowed with difficulty, trying to keep his rising panic at bay. "Bathing chamber," he nodded into the direction of the archway. "I really should have named it torture chamber," he added with a nervous smile. The human looked worriedly ahead. "I..is it dangerous?"

_No it's not. It can't be._

"Not at all. As long as the creature is not around it is just another room." _Let's get this over with._ The Wraith inhaled deeply to steady himself and carried on walking towards the archway.

As they approached it, small orange flames came into view. They were scattered irregularly across the chamber, licking away lazily on some remaining red drops on the floor. _Persistent fire indeed, and still warm. Oh the agony when it burnt away my flesh. The never ending pain… _The fire bathed the room in a flickering light that spilled into the corridor. The nearer they came the greater the turmoil in the Wraith's head became. As he reached the doorframe his legs would not carry him any further. A thousand voices in his mind screamed for him to run away and hide before the anguish started again. Sweat was pouring from every pore of his body and his hand closed in a death grip around the supporting shoulder. Rodney winced as the nails bit into his flesh and drew blood. He turned to protest but his accusing finger froze in the air when he saw the Wraith's eyes widened in terror, staring into the chamber. That was when he also realised that the alien's breath came in short laboured gasps.

"What?!" Dr. McKay looked around hectically but did not spot anything which possibly could have caused a panic attack to his fellow escapee. The room was pressing in on the Wraith, flooding his brain with images, and he felt all the inflicted wounds, the stinging saltwater, the humiliations and being boiled alive muddled together in a single screech of agony burning away his mind. It made him shiver and gape in terror.

Rodney could feel the shaking starting and suddenly remembered that the Wraith had called this room a torture chamber. The chamber did not look impressive or exceedingly dangerous but it started to dawn on him, nonetheless, what the matter was.

"Oh my gosh, I never thought a Wraith could suffer from post traumatic stress." His voice came out an octave too high.

The high pitched voice ripped the Wraith out of his anguish and he concentrated on the human's face to block out the thoughts on the chamber. The meaning of the man's last statement started to sink in. _Post traumatic stress…post traumatic stress… that is what wrecks my brain right now. I always thought this was something reserved for prey._ He took a few calming breaths.

"Me neither." He looked into Rodney's eyes and saw shock in them mixed with some other emotion …_pity? PITY!_ _OH, NO, a human pities me. That can't be. I refuse to believe that. _He wanted to roar in anger but his body proved to be especially uncooperative under these circumstances and all that came over his lips was a hardly audible whimper. The human looked at him, eyes full of uncertainty now, and extended his left arm to pat the hand still clinging to his shoulder. He opened his mouth to say something but never had the chance to do so because the Wraith jerked away his hand violently. _That beats everything I have experienced in my whole life. _Fuelled by anger he squeezed his eyes shut and strode into the room, intending to cross it as fast as possible without running. He heard a surprised "Huh." from the human as well as "Hey, wait for me." Dr. McKay had to run a few steps to catch up. The Alien hurried on without looking as something sharp caught his toe and made a metallic sound on the floor. He looked down, and saw that he was standing in a small heap of ash. The cut on his foot had healed already but he recognised the clasp on the floor and a sigh escaped his lips. Rodney stopped as well and looked at the Wraith questioningly as the latter flexed his toes in the grey slag.

"Those were my clothes once." He kept staring down on the remains. The memory of the fiery heat of the fire on his skin slipped into his mind and he flinched.

"She burnt me alive," the Wraith added hesitantly. Every bit of colour drained from the human's face. The Wraith tore his look away and strode from the room quickly. McKay followed promptly.

The Wraith ran down the stairs, his heart beating wildly. _Too much in one day. How can this be that I am so affected by a simple room?_ Rodney followed swiftly.

"Hey, wait," the human called out, "I'm sorry she did such terrible things to you. But there's no reason to run away from me." The Wraith stopped and paused until the human had caught up, then continued to climb down the steps at a slower pace, his breathing more controlled now. The human eyed him closely.

"Oh, good. You've calmed down a bit. You really looked awful back there. Hope you're better now. I didn't realise how terrible a place that is. Did that creature torture you very much? Oh, we really need to get out from of here. …"

The Wraith smiled slightly. _Back to normal for the moment_._ Now that I crossed the bathing chamber a heavy weight is off my mind._

Rodney McKay's hand shot up to hold his nose. "Ewww, what's that terrible stench?"

TBC

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	18. Chapter 18

Just to let you know chapter 17 is partly rewritten so you may want to read it again before reading this chapter. :-)

Many, many thanks to night animal who had the kindness to beta this chapter. She will also beta the rest of my story, when she is finished I am going to replace all the existing chapters with the improved versions. I let you know when I have done that.

**Chapter 18**

A breeze carrying a foul smell assaulted them and the Wraith turned his head in disgust. _Yuck, I had forgotten just how much the muck in the dungeon reeks. I'm tempted to hold my nose as the human does. How ever did I get used to it when I was locked in down there?_ The fetidness intensified the closer they came to the bottom.

"You know what? You go on without me, I'll find a different way out!" Rodney exclaimed with revulsion clearly written on his face, "That's nauseating!"

The Wraith snorted in reply. _Stop whining, it does not lessen the stench._ …_I suppose I will resist holding my nose, it causes the voice to sound weird. Argh, I am more affected than I care to admit. I wonder if this whole dirt thing in the cellar is supposed to__keep people out. _He looked thoughtfully at the human who was still walking beside him, despite his threat to turn around.

"For Christ's sake, could you stop staring at me?" Rodney exclaimed in a very nasal tone.

The wraith bared his teeth, a growl forming in his throat. _Stop whi…_he dropped the snarl. _Hm, I suppose this human complains loudly to deal with inconveniences. And who is Christ? …Rodney McKay, you are so very different from every other person I have ever talked to. They were all wraith, though, you are the first man I have ever had a conversation with. In a strange way your behaviour is amusing. I wonder if all humans are like you. _That thought made him smile slightly.

"What's so funny?"

The altered voice made the wraith grin broadly. "Your voice sounds strange when your nose is blocked.

"Gosh, you're easily amused. I mean, I've met a wraith with a sense of humour before but he was still mostly serious." Seeing the Wraith's temple twitch he added hastily:

"I…I didn't mean you're not serious, in contrary" The wraith looked at him intensively.

"Um..oh…I wanted to say…" Dr. McKay was interrupted by a quiet chuckle. The Wraith was shaking his head slightly covering his moth with one hand stroking his Fu Manchu beard.

"Give it up before you really say something you did not intend to say." Amusement glittered in the Wraith's eyes. _I feel so light as if I could fly and as happy as if I would have escaped already. Uho, my mind is really messed up today, I have to be careful._

They had reached the end of the stairs and the sight made Rodney take a few steps back covering his mouth and nose even more. The corridor was ankle deep in foul-smelling sewage.

"Ew, that's revolting!"

"Come on, let's get it over with! It is just this corridor and it is not too long," the Wraith encouraged his human companion and set his foot into the disgusting liquid. The human followed reluctantly.

The water combined with the already sediment mud made a gurgling sound with every step. The constant noise made the Wraith nervous again and he kept glancing around as well as perking his ears for any sign of discovery. His anxiousness passed on to the man as well, who fell silent and became alert too. But everything stayed calm and nothing happened.

They passed by the Alien's former cell and he couldn't help but stop for a short while and peek into it. The dirt was dispersed again._Glad I wasn't here for the downpour._ His look fell on the force field crystals, which were covered in a thin, partly transparent film of mud. The two halves of the blue main control crystal were held together by some metallic glittering material. _What is that? I have never seen anything similar before. _He scowled.

"What?!" Rodney had stopped as well and followed the wraith's look. His eyes widened in surprise.

"Good grief, who is dumb enough to try to repair an ancient crystal with duct tape? And what's a hyperdrive adapter crystal doing here any way, let alone that tape?! …On a second look this crystal assembly makes the stuff Kavanagh made look clever."

"I am not sure whom you are referring to but I think I had similar thoughts when I first encountered this. Unfortunately it generated a force field. That was before I broke the blue crystal, though." He looked at the human who, fascinated, inspected the generator, the hand off his nose, the sewage forgotten for the moment.

"Out of curiosity, what is duct tape?"

"Hm?" Dr. McKay looked up again. "Oh, it's a fabric-reinforced, multi-purpose adhesive tape." Seeing the Wraith's confused expression he sighed: "Never mind. It's from earth and I'm simply surprised to find it in a place like this, in the Pegasus galaxy. Um, did you just say you broke the crystal? Why did you do that?"

_Here we go again with silly questions._

"Maybe because I was fed up with all the reeking mud and nearly drowning in it while being locked up in this cell" he replied mockingly.

"Hey." The human stepped back with defensively raised hands. "No reason to get offended."

The Wraith turned around shaking his head, smiling slightly.

"May I suggest we carry on, I do not feel the need to be caught and being locked into a damp, mucky cell again."

"Of course" Rodney came hurriedly after him and they continued silently side by side down the corridor. McKay kept looking at the Wraith.

They reached the door and the Wraith opened it carefully. _Aaahhh, fresh air again. _He inhaled deeply. A glance sideways told him the human was still staring at him.

"Spit it out. I know you are incapable of keeping it to yourself much longer."

"Well," Rodney looked uncomfortable, "were you locked in **there** for real?" he pointed backwards. "And how do you drown in ankle deep water?"

The Wraith signed. _Oh, talkative man, don't remind me of that experience. I had it twice too often._ A look at Rodney told him that the man was really curious, and there was a hint of pity in his eyes again. The Wraith pulled a face, which made McKay take a step back again. _Still so easily frightened, you do amuse me again and again. I would already have inflicted harm on you by now if I really wanted to. Well, I wanted to feed on you back in the cell but not anymore. At least not at the moment. Strange how things can change. _He smiled again.

"Come on, let's get out of this stench." He went up the flight of stairs. The man followed, still looking at him expectantly. _Oh, good, you shall have your answer. _The Wraith snorted.

"The basement gets almost completely flooded when it rains and I may have a sense of humour, but I do not joke about serious things like that."_So, now it is out, and don't you dare ask further questions._ The thought must have shown on his face as the slightly shocked looking human did not enquire further but stayed unusually silent.

They arrived at the top and the Wraith, following his memory, went straight for the hole in the wall. The human went after him and stopped to look outside, but only realised what his fellow escapee had in mind when the Wraith started climbing outside.

"You've got to be kidding me!"

TBC

Leave a review please! It's the only payment I get for writing this story and I enjoy reading them so much!


	19. Chapter 19

**My sincere apology to all my wonderful readers who tried to review but couldn't because I had activated a filter. ****Sorry, I really suck with IT stuff, I didn't even realise there was a filter, which can be activated/ deactivated. Many, many thanks to BlueJay who pointed out to me there was such a thing, preventing people from reviewing. Please don't be cross with me and leave me a review now, please:-)**

**A whole truck load of thank yous to my wonderful beta night animal, who had the kindness to help me making this chapter better.**

**Chapter 19**

The Wraith, with one leg outside, held on tightly to the edge while trying to find a foothold on the cliffy rock face. The afternoon sun peeked out behind the frayed out purple clouds, which were racing over a pale blue sky. _Hm, there must be strong winds in the upper atmosphere. It would be difficult to fly a ship up there._ While his toes slid over the smooth stone, the alien's look wandered to the slightly hilly landscape which was still covered with the same red leaved, sturdy trees. The warm rays of light caressed his back and face and he closed his eyes for a moment to enjoy the warmth, which had been absent in his life for so long. A feeling of déjà vu strolled into his mind and the Wraith jerked his head around, eyes wide, checking the corridor for any signs of danger. He saw nothing, except for a terrified looking Rodney McKay.

His toes finally found a crack in the stone surface, which would allow them in and he carefully moved his other leg outside. The crack's edge was sharp and bit into his bare foot as the Wraith put weight on it. He hissed. _Argh, … it's a good thing that I have fed, although not very well. It is at least enough for the cuts to heal. However, shoes would definitely have been nice for climbing down this wall._ His eyes met the human's concerned look.

"It's alright," he told Rodney, "you have shoes, so sharp rock will not bother you."

"That doesn't exactly make me feel any better," was the irritated reply. "Are you sure this is the right way out?" Fear replaced annoyance on Rodney's features. "I…I'm certain this wasn't the way I came in. I…I can't climb down here. I'm awful with heights. C…Can't we take a different way out? We could go back and search for the passage the creature brought me through."

The Wraith snorted. _Ever frightened human, why was I amused by that at all? My mind must be terribly messed up today. Seeing the bathing chamber again probably did me no good. Going back now when freedom is so near?! What kind of insanity has entered your mind? _"You came from the corridor to the left of my cell. I do not know if you realised it but it was leading upwards. Whereever you entered it must be higher up than this hole. Did you not say the creature flew in with you? Have you suddenly grown wings? Now shut up and at least give it a try before announcing defeat."

His other foot had found another crack at last. It was quite far to the right, which left him hanging in an awkward position against the rock's surface. The Wraith shifted his grip on the edge of the hole, pulling his toes out of the first chink, shifted his weight and lowered himself to find another foothold further down. The human's pale, anxious face appeared above him, looking down. "Gosh, this is high up."

"Yes it is and now…" the Wraith gasped as the stone holding his weight crumbled and gave way. He fell. His feet kicked empty air and his arms dragged along the smooth wall, which scraped away his skin. It was over before he could even form a single coherent thought, as his hands collided with a ledge and he instinctively clasped on it for dear life. The slab was wide enough to sit on and the Wraith scrambled onto it, panting hard. He shook violently as he realised how fatally this could have ended and hugged his knees in self comfort. _§$/&! That was too close! _

"Oh my god, oh my god…this…this just didn't happen." A panicking high voice rang out and snapped the Wraith out of his shock. _Damn._ He moved his head out of the niche and looked up. _The fall obviously felt longer than it was. I plunged a maximum of three body lengths down. _Dr. McKay was staring down at him and the expression on his white face changed from shock to annoyance. "N…Never ever dare to do this to me again. Do you understand?" The human waved his forefinger accusingly at the Wraith, his eyes ablaze with anger. "You almost gave me a heart attack and I certainly won't follow you down this treacherous cliff and break my neck!"

_Give it a rest human_. The Wraith snarled viciously. "You behave as if **you** just nearly crashed on the cliff. Now suck it up and start climbing."

"No, are you insane, I'm not inviting certain death!" Rodney moved the upper part of his body back inside the opening.

"Good, then stay up there and send Miss Torture Crazy my regards when she imprisons you again!" _Why am I bothering with this human, again?_ He moved back into the niche and explored further possible ways to climb down. The wall to his right had a rough surface with plenty of cracks and knobs, which offered a good foothold to get down. _But how far will this stretch of rough rock get me down? _The Wraith leaned out of the alcove and saw to his delight that the bumpy wall morphed into a chasm, which had not been visible from the hole above. _It seems wide enough to get into. This will make things easier._

Some pebbles went by his head into the abyss and interrupted his thoughts. The Wraith looked up and saw the human's boots scratching over the wall, looking for support. _So you are coming after all. Thought so._ He watched the human as the latter clang to the wall, and heard him muttering in a low voice. "Don't look down, …just don't look d…down. You can do this. Y…You **can** do this. It's really easy, just…just hold on tightly. Oh God, this is so awfully high up. D…don't remind yourself of it. Everything is perfectly fine. H…hold on tightly…"

The Alien watched when, as in slow motion, the human's grip on the cliff failed. A high pitched scream raptured the air as McKay fell. The Wraith extended his hand to grip Rodney's combat west just in time, and hauled him into the niche. The impact overstretched his muscles considerably and he hissed in pain. The human was shivering, eyes wide in terror and his mouth opened and closed, but no sound came out. The Wraith lowered the man onto the ledge, where he coiled up at once, staring at the Alien with blank eyes. The wraith sat down next to the human, cradling his injured limb. I _know how you feel, but you have to get over it. I will give you time till my muscles are healed, which could take some time judging by the way it feels. This feeding process is really ineffective. I can just hope that all this noise has not attracted any attention._ They sat on the slab and the Wraith watched as the sun wandered towards the horizon, illuminating everything in gentle red light. _Damn, if I wait for the completion of the regeneration process, we are going to be stuck here all night._

"Hey, Rodney, we need to get going." He got up to his legs and looked at the human. McKay had stopped shivering and a hint of colour had returned to his face, but he still sat curled up on the stone, staring holes into the air. "I…I don't want to die," was the whispered reply.

_Oh, good grief, __get a grip, human._ "You will not die. But you will have to sleep here if we do not proceed soon." That got the shaken man to his feet, looking around, uncertainly. _Finally_. "Come, Rodney McKay, this bit of wall offers plenty of footing. It will be possible to climb down here with less difficulty."

"Less difficulty?! That's the understatement of the century," Rodney muttered, but he nonetheless followed the Wraith onto the rough rock face. The descent proved to be wearisome but not too difficult. The Wraith's evaluation had been correct, the wall and chasm offered plenty of support. The journey was slow but steady. Somewhere half way down the gap Dr. McKay found his poise again and started to complain loudly: "You couldn't have thought about a more hazardous way down, could you? Did I mention that this is insane? You almost got us killed."

_I am too exhausted for your babbling. It is just amusing for so long._

"I can still kill you if you wish for it." That shut Rodney up for a while and they continued climbing down, coming closer and closer to the ground. A gust travelling upwards brought a familiar odour to their noses and a very exhausted and irritated Dr. McKay couldn't keep silent any longer.

"You're attracted to this stench, aren't you? Does it smell nice to you or are you just one of those people who enjoy torturing themselves and other people, huh?!"

TBC

**Please, leave a review, it should work now.**


	20. Chapter 20

**Here we go …an extra long chapter for my lovely readers. Many thanks to night animal, my gorgeous beta!**

**Also many thanks to BlueRay who did not give up on my, while I proofed to ****really suck****at IT.** The filter preventing anonymous reviews is switched of now. So no excuse for not reviewing this chapter…:-)

**Chapter 20**

Since McKay had fallen silent, the Wraith had occupied his mind by musing about the mysteries of brain chemistry, how torture influenced it, his strange mood swings and how come there was a bond between him and a human now, no matter how feeble it was. But the longer the trip downwards lasted, the more he became aware of his excoriated body. _My muscles ache! No, ache is not the right word, they burn, complaining about the abuse I have put them through today, but especially about the current climbing trip._ The worst was his shoulder, every movement shot bolts of pure hot white agony from his elbow to the spine. (Excellent metaphors!) _Bad, bad idea to continue the descend today. I should have stayed over night up there and let my arm heal properly. Oh, who are you kidding!. You would never have had the nerve sleeping on that ledge, the risk of discovery is just too great. I'm astonished my escape hasn't been discovered already._ The Wraith paused to observe the environment. The red treetops where swaying gently in a light wind, but that couldn't be felt in the chasm, though. The ground closer to the cliff was covered with water, which reflected the violet-red sunset sky. They weren't too far up now. There was no sign of pursuit. The evening was completely silent, no sound could be heard except the soft rustling of leaves in the wind. _An almost perfect, peaceful nightfall, weren't it for this awful smell…um, and Rodney, who just found his voice again. It was so beautifully silent, why did you have to disturb it? Do you never shut up? I may just make you, I could do with a nourishing meal, once I arrive at the bottom. No more pain, no more exhaustion…_a smile crossed his lips …_and then I'm leaving this planet for good. …§$"'! I have no idea where the gate is. _A pebble hit his head and he gazed upwards. _But the human does. Hmm, so no replenishing dinner for today. _

"Are you sleeping down there? You know, this isn't a good place for a snooze. And I asked you a question. Would you mind answering it?" Rodney complained, exhaustion and irritation clearly audible in his voice.

_You try my __patience, human, but I still need you._ The Wraith rested his head against the cool stone. "No, just gathering strength," he murmured crossly and continued climbing down.

"Are you deaf? I want an answer to my question! Do you like this stench or do you just enjoy tormenting me and yourself…**Fluffy?**" It was said with pure mockery. _Now you're pushing it too far, I am going to eat you._ The Wraith stopped abruptly and tried to snatch the human's leg, intending to make him fall down to the ground, so the man would be an easier victim. But he only grabbed empty air and then the rock decided to not carry him anymore, for the second time today. The now familiar feeling of falling encased him again but it didn't last long. A sticking out stone collided with his back and the wraith scraped down along the wall. _Ouch! _The bloodstained robe was pulled up to his armpits and the rough surface added a few new scratches to his back. Then it stopped as his feet penetrated the ankle deep water at the bottom, the force of the impact propelling his head forward, only to collide painfully with the other wall of the chasm. He groggily straightened himself, assessing the situation. _Ow, that hurt, but it does not feel as if I received a serious injury. Lucky again._

A whining voice echoed down the gap: "O my god, are…are you OK? Are you hurt?" The Wraith snorted, then the stench hit him with full force and he blocked his nostrils with the back of his hand, trying to turn his head away in disgust. _Yuck, I never thought anything could stink this much._ Then he realised that he was sinking. . _#$"! The soft muck under the water's surface doesn't sustain my weight_. The Wraith glanced around, hectically, then spotted a stone nearby and hauled himself onto it, out of the reeking liquid. The rock was big enough to sit on. The Alien pulled the tunic back into place and had a seat. He took a few calming breaths and watched the progress of the human, who kept talking nervously. _So, now I am at the bottom and what now? I still need to find the gate, the quicker I leave this planet the better. The fastest way will be to let the man show the way. I'd better let him lead the way, no matter how annoying he is._ He sighed. The Wraith got up and offered Rodney, who was almost at the ground now, a hand to help him get onto the flat stone as well. McKay was white as a sheet again.

"Y…You need to stop doing that to me! If you keep that up you'll give me a heart attack and get yourself killed in the process!"

_Your c__onstant whining and ranting drives me crazy but it would not be wise to hurt you. _An evil grin entered his face and he lent forward until his nose almost touched Rodney's. McKay looked at the Wraith with wide, terrified eyes. "Oh crap," he whispered but couldn't retreat without falling into the water. The Alien stared directly into the human's eyes, the grin still plastered on his face:" Would you be so kind and refer from taking your frustration out on me in future…**Mister Whiny**."

The human gulped, then opened his mouth and closed it again without saying anything. The wraith straightened, smiling smugly. _Oh, that felt good, and it didn't incapacitate the human from showing me the way._ Then he grabbed Dr. McKay's combat vest to prevent the latter from falling into the water. The man wanted to say something but never had the chance to do so, as the putrid stench took its toll and stinging bile entered his throat. The Wraith, while holding his nose and looking appalled, held onto the back of Rodney's clothing to keep him from falling off the stone, while the man threw up violently. After a while the vomiting turned into retching.

"Are you finished?" the Wraith asked, still holding the sick human tightly. Rodney nodded weakly. "Well, then, let's get away from here before I start throwing up as well." The Alien pulled McKay along onto another stone, towards the shore. The miserable looking man smiled feebly: "D…didn't know a wraith could puke. …You do realise your voice sounds bizarre, when you hold your nose."

_That was bound to come._ The Wraith smiled grimly.

"I don't care, just let's get away from this awful place."

"Now you're talking, …um, by the way you, can let go now. I'm able to walk myself."

"If you say so," the Wraith replied, wearily releasing his grip on the vest. The Alien studied the surroundings for the best way towards the forest. There were flat stones sticking out of the water in an irregular pattern, leading to the shore. Otherwise, the shallow water was only disturbed by a few mud banks. _I somehow doubt that these blocks came to be here naturally. They lead directly to the chasm, so this setting was planned. _ He glanced around quickly but there was nothing. _There's absolutely nothing here. This swamp like landscape is completely devoid of plant life or animals. _The Wraith strode from stone to stone, heading for the trees, closely followed by the human. He became aware of small bubbles rising from the muddy bottom, which had a sickly yellow colour. Countless rotting leaves littered the bed of the swamp and they even passed a decaying cadaver of a small animal floating in the water. _That water can't be healthy. _He quickened his pace. _I think I did not want to know why the downpour in my cell smelled so bad. _The Alien observed the edge of the wood and the sky nervously but there was still no sign of pursuit.

The Wraith sighed in relief as they entered the shrubbery, not only because the air was better here but also because of the cover it offered. _Ah, the chances to actually get away have increased again. Now, all I need to do is get to the gate safely. _He turned around quickly, almost colliding with the man. "So, we are out of the prison, your turn to get us to the gate."

"What..?!" Rodney looked at him with wide eyes.

"She brought you through the gate consciously. I was not so lucky, so you are the one who knows where the gate is."

"Huh, um right." Dr. McKay rotated around with a helpless expression on his face.

"You are **not** telling me that you do not have any idea where the gate is." _Great, why don't I just eat him?_ The human clicked his fingers, then put them into a pocket in his vest and produced a small rectangular object. "It shouldn't be difficult to find out with this." He waved the item around. The Wraith looked bewildered while the human worked away on the thing.

"What are you doing, Rodney?"

"Getting this life sign detector to acknowledge the energy signature of the gate, so that we can just walk straight to it."

"Hm" _You really have lots of useful equipment with you. I may just relieve you of it. On second look, that life sign detector looks Lantean. I won't be able to operate it. Still need you, annoying human, even tough you don't even know where the gate is._ The only thing left for him to do now was to wait until the man had finished the reconfiguring. He paced slowly while keeping an eye on the human, who was muttering to himself in a low voice, cradling his injured limb. The tension was wearing off and he felt more than tired. _What I really would need is a rest and a good nap, but that is hard to come by under these circumstances._

A triumphant "Have it!" interrupted his thoughts.

"We need to go that way." Rodney pointed into the direction opposite of the swamp. The Wraith followed the human in the indicated direction, penetrating deeper into the forest, which looked gloomy in the fading light of the sun.

McKay stopped abruptly after a few hundred strides. "Do you mind if I spend a Penny?" His voice sounded loud in the otherwise silent woods. The Wraith shrugged, unsure what his fellow escapee was on about. The human went in the direction of an especially thick bush and he followed. Rodney spun around. "**Alone**!" The Alien stopped. _Are you trying to get rid of my by using meaningless phrases? You won't escape me that easily, human._ He started to silently pursue Dr. McKay, who now had a small head start. The man had stopped and busied himself with something closely to the shrubbery. The Wraith sneaked up from behind. _What are you doing?_ The sharp smell of urine made him cough and Rodney looked up.

"Good grief! A little more privacy, please." The Alien retreated instantly and waited for the human to finish on the other side of the shrub. McKay emerged, shooting angry glares at him. "Would you be so kind and refer from startling me again in future…**Fluffy**." The man shook himself and stalked off in the direction where the gate presumably was.

The Wraith followed swiftly.

"I will, if you stop annoying me as well as continually using phrases which I cannot understand, **Mr Whiny**!"

Dr. McKay turned around deliberately slowly, scowling furiously at him. "Stop calling me names." He pronounced every single word.

"You forget, that you started it," the Wraith answered, in the same manner. By now, they were penetrating each others private space while staring into each others' eyes. Rodney broke the eye contact first, putting a hand on his forehead and sighing. "You know, I get snappy when I'm exhausted and upset. I don't really mean what I'm saying then."

The Alien massaged his temple and replied gruffly: "I get cranky, too. Let's just get off this rock." Both of them sighed and resumed their journey to the stargate, side by side.

TBC

**Please leave a review, it's so great to read what you think and it's the only payment I ever will get for this story :-)**


	21. Chapter 21

Chapter 21

Thanks to my wonderful beta night animal!

**Chapter 21**

_How long have I been walking…I can't tell anymore. So tired. So very tired_The largest of the three pale yellow moons had already vanished behind the horizon again, but it had been out while the sun was still shining. The Wraith was beyond exhausted and barley managed to drag his feet across the floor anymore. At the moment he was using his hands as well, as he climbed up a steep hill littered with dry leaves. _I hate this planet, nothing is what it looks like, not even the hills. They looked so gentle from the cliff, but they are not. The landscape is way too craggy for my liking. _The Alien reached the rim of the rise, pulled himself over it and collapsed on his tummy, panting heavily with eyes closed. He heard the rustling of the leaves underneath the human's feet. The sound seemed unnaturally loud in the otherwise so quiet forest. The Wraith felt anxious about all the noise, especially all the ranting and cursing of his fellow escapee, but had no strength left to care anymore. He pried open his eyelids again, expecting to see yet another steep slope, held in place only by tree roots, descending into a bottomless valley. The Wraith was in for a surprise. The forest in front of him was almost even and led gently downhill. The sturdy trees, no longer having to cling onto steep ground, had fanned out crowns, so that the pale moonlight penetrated through the leafy canopy to the dark ground, painting shimmering patterns in the slight mist, which had accumulated in some hallows. He looked up and caught glimpses of the stars in the deep violet sky. The mild night was disturbed by a slight breeze waving through the foliage, making the leaves whisper. _This place is so bizarre…no living things except plants …and her. Is she scaring away all animals, causing this spooky silence?_ The Wraith rolled onto his back and looked up to the black outlines of intertwined branches, which mostly obscured the view of the firmament. _In a strange way it's beautiful…I'm so exhausted. I have no other choice but to rest and sleep, or I will not make it back to the gate. If we are even going in the right direction, that is. _He inhaled deeply and tried to get up again. As his hurting body protested, the Alien decided to take a break until the human had caught up completely. _No advantage in a head start anyway, since the man is leading the way. _

Finally, a gasping McKay emerged over the edge of the cliff and slumped down beside the Wraith.

"Gee, time for a break, already." Rodney grimaced and gulped down some water from his flask. The Alien grinned, amused. This was lost on his companion, who did not have a night vision as well developed as his. He was glad of it because he did not feel like listening to another rant. _Hmpf, how much did you complain about unknown germs and nasty diseases when we found this untainted spring at the bottom of a valley? You said you would rather die of thirst than touch this water, and now you are pouring it down your throat. Humans are so weird. _The Wraith watched as the man pulled out another piece of sustenance, wrapped in silver glittering material, and greedily took a bite from it. _Do you need to eat again so soon? You just had one of those, back in the feeding chamber, and you don't look exactly starving. I didn't realise how often humans need to absorb nutrients._

"Yuck, who packed apricot jubilee again?"

_What?!_ He sat up and looked questioningly at Rodney, who weighed the piece of food in is hand with a thoughtful expression on his face. The Wraith remembered that the human couldn't see mimicry properly in the dark and asked: "What's the matter with your sustenance?" The man shrugged and resumed eating it, answering with a full mouth:

"I'm not a fan of apricot flavouring but I have to eat." The Alien turned his head aside. _Ew, disgusting. Keep your mouth shut while chewing. _

"Should have known you are a picky eater, the way you behaved all day."

"What's that supposed to mean?" was the affronted reply. _Yuck!_

"Would you mind keeping your mouth shut at least while eating?"

Surprisingly, Dr. McKay did. _Is your silence a sign of exhaustion?_ He waited until the human had finished and watched, astonished, as Rodney tossed the metallic packing material away. _Are you insane?_

"Are you purposely laying a trail for Miss Torture Crazy?" the Wraith asked, irritated.

"What?!...Oh." McKay bent down and retrieved the wrapper. "Sorry, I didn't think …." The Alien snorted.

"I can see that. …We mustn't give her more clues as to where we are; when she discovers our absence she will probably guess that we are heading towards the stargate, anyway. Hm, are you sure we are going in the right direction at all? How can the gate be that far away?"

"I've got the point and yes, for the hundredth time, we're going in the right direction."

"Then, how far is it?"

"I can't tell. I have calibrated the life sign detector to pick up energy signatures now, and it won't show our life signs in relation to the gate signature. All I know is, that it was pretty far by flight so on foot it will take even longer. Can we go now? I want to sleep in my own bed tonight," was the snappy respond.

Human and Wraith got up, both of them equally irritated. The Alien's sore legs protested strongly and shook under his weight. _I have to rest, and quickly, but this is not a good place._ He went a few strides, then his knees buckled and he fell. The anger dissolved on both sides.

_Crap!_

"Are…are you alright?"

He hissed.

"Hey, don't get cranky, it's just a question."

"It's nothing." The Wraith struggled onto his feet again.

"Yeah, right," McKay answered, sarcastically.

The Alien admitted: "I'm just a bit exhausted."

"A bit?! I think we should extend the break so you can regain some strength. I don't want to drag you around again." Rodney sat down again.

His companion went down into a sitting position, hands folded over one knee and sighed: "This is no place for a rest, we will be discovered if we linger. I am surprised we are not pursued already." Dr. McKay's forefinger shot up:

"Don't even dare to say things like that. You beg Murphy's law to be implemented."

"Murphy's law?" The Wraith repeated, confused.

"You don't…" Rodney looked puzzled, "Oh, of course you wouldn't know it. Um, Murphy's law, …in short it says: whatever can go wrong, will go wrong. But there are many different ones like: If there are two or more ways to do something, and one of those ways can result in a catastrophe or pregnancy, then someone will do it …or any tool dropped in a workshop will roll to the least accessible corner. Any object dropped on the way to the least accessible corner will land on your toe. Gosh, there are so many. This is another one: Make something idiot-proof, and they will build a better idiot. Or, there is also: Just when you think things cannot get any worse, they will."

_Human insanity_ He hid his face in his hands an moaned. "**I .. got .. the .. point!** So you are implying that when I say there is no pursuit, that will cause the pursuit to start."

"Yes, and don't repeat that," McKay replied aggravated, "We better touch wood." The man extended one hand to touch a tree trunk. "Ouch, that thing is thorny." He sucked one of his fingers.The Wraith rolled his eyes.

"Is it possible that you are just a little tiny bit superstitious?" The Alien got up and strode away. The human jumped up and ran after him.

He did not come far before his legs gave way again. _I have to rest now._ Fate had mercy on him and he spotted a hole of an arm's width under a thick root, which framed it like an arc. Inside, the hole expanded and was filled with an accumulation of dry leaves. _I won't find a better place shielded from searching looks._ The wraith scrambled into it.

"What are you doing?" the man asked, baffled.

"Sorry, Rodney McKay, but your personal bed has to wait. I am in dire need of sleep. This has to do for tonight." The human looked alarmed but the Wraith did not care, as he made himself comfortable on the foliage. The Alien could hear the man muttering and the patter of liquid as he relieved himself somewhere nearby. Then the human crawled inside as well.

"Oh, great! Nice and cozy." His voice was dripping with sarcasm. The Wraith could not care. He curled up into a tight ball and instantly fell asleep.

TBC

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PS: I can see you naughty people on my hit list! You're reading this story but won't "pay" me with a review! ;)


	22. Chapter 22

Chapter 22

Thanks for all the nice reviews! Also many, many thanks to my wonderful beta night animal, who is ever so supportive and encouraging. Have fun reading this chapter:

**Chapter 22**

The Wraith woke up. It was nice nestling in his warm hollow of leaves and he did not want to open his eyes just yet. He shifted slightly, to get into an even more comfortable position, and his shoulder gave a sharp pang. He sighed. _But it is way better than it was yesterday, it's almost healed. Almost…_ Then the Alien became aware of what had actually woken him up – the trees were moaning quietly. The Wraith pricked up his ears. _What is going on here?_ The sound was disturbed by rustling, caused by a powerbar wrapping and chewing noises. _Oh, good grief! How often does this human need to feed?_A sickly sweet aroma entered his nose. _I know this smell._

"I thought you despised this apricot … _what was the second word?..._thing sustenance."

"Yeah, and I'd rather have a nice piece of toast for breakfast, and scrambled eggs …and bacon …and a lovely cup of coffee. I'd kill for a mug of coffee right now," Rodney answered while still munching. _Good thing that I still have my eyes closed. The sound alone is revolting. What a useless __itemisation__ in our current situation. _

"Do you want to hear a detailed description what I would like for breakfast?" he murmured.

"NO THANKS!" was the repelled answer.The Wraith grinned._ Never thought I could get so much pleasure out of annoying a human …I feel well rested, that means I must have slept quite long. Probably too long, it must be late morning by now. We lingered too long. That will cause trouble…_

"Why are you eating your breakfast unhurriedly? We should get off this planet as fast as lightning. Couldn't you have woken me up at dawn? Or did you sleep in as well?" he scolded his companion.

"Well, those poky leaves are so wonderfully comfortable and I always have wanted to snuggle up really tight with a Wraith. I thought I would like to spend the next couple of weeks in here with you for a holiday. …Um, no, seriously it's still completely dark outside. There is no point in stumbling through the night again when you can wait for the morning, as well."

_Oh stop exaggerating, just because your night vision is not as good as mine. It is odd__, though, that it is not morning already. I must have estimated the length of days incorrectly._ The Wraith opened his eyes to check out the time of the day and realised that it wasn't dark. **It was dark**. He hardly could make out the outlines of the man._ I don't like the sight of this._ The Wraith crawled to the entrance and peeked outside – it was pitch black. He couldn't see a single thing. _&#§! Not good!_

"You could not have woken me up when this happened, could you?" he shot at the human, irritably. McKay flinched:

"What happened?!" The Alien looked infuriated at Rodney, who seemed completely dumbfolded. _Do you really have no clue that something is going on here? Is a human's night vision that bad that you can't discern between a cloudless night and this?! …Was there truth in your words, during the time of darkness, that you couldn't see a thing?_ The Wraith sighed and looked out again. The black surroundings seemed to move and whirl and then a hint of a single ray of sunlight touched the ground for a moment, before it was swallowed by shady mist again. Then it hit him what he was looking at. _No!_ He gasped.

"What?!..." His hand shot up and covered the human's mouth as he leant over him to whisper into the man's ear:

"Silent, we do not know if it can hear us." Then he released a confused looking Rodney, who breathed:

"Who can hear what?" The Alien nodded to the outside but remembered even while doing so that McKay wouldn't be able to see it, so he murmured into Rodney's ear again:

"The junior shadow creature you pissed off."

The human turned his head abruptly, colliding with the Wraith's chin. The latter silently cursed the underdeveloped senses of the man.

"What would the dark entity be doing here?" Rodney asked, alarmed and not too quietly. "Ssshhh, silent," he came closer and pressed his mouth to the man's earlap, "It is probably feasting on Evil Mommy's vegetable patch. Probably nothing to worry about but, as you said, direct contact with it could be fatal. I suppose we have to sit this out." _Why are you shaking, human? This revelation cannot have upset you that much._ Then the Wraith realised that maybe his feeding hand on the human's chest didn't go down too well with the man. He hurriedly untangled his limbs from McKay's and retreated into his corner.

The hole was just high enough to sit upright and he rested against the wall of dry earth. Rodney seemingly relaxed a bit and resumed eating his power bar. _I can't believe what I am seeing. _The Alien snorted.

"You may want to ration your sustenance as we have no idea for how long we are stuck."

"I'm already doing that! Are we talking normally again now?" Rodney shot back.

"Yes, after all the ruckus you made, we would alrady be in trouble if this entity could hear us," he replied, slightly irritated.

Just as McKay was at the brink of snapping back, the Wraith couldn't help but to acknowledge that this Murphy guy had had a point with his laws, as his breath condensed in the rapidly cooling air.

TBC

Please leave a review. It costs you a couple of minutes and makes my days so much more enjoyable! :)


	23. Chapter 23

Chapter 23

Thanks for your lovely reviews and a huge thank you to my great beta night animal!

**Chapter 23**

_!_ _She is coming for us, but to run through the young one would be fatal, as well. There is nothing I can do. No, no, no, we were so close to escape. I shouldn't have slept. But I wasn't able to walk any further either. Oh, screw it!_

He sat in uneasy anticipation and waited for certain doom to come. But it didn't. Nothing happened, except the temperature dropped further. The Wraith could hear Rodney shivering and clattering his teeth.

"You ju..just had..d..d to t..t..tempt f..f..fate!" The Wraith responded with a snort and wrapped his bare feet in his robe, as well as pulling his hands into his sleeves, and brought his knees to his chest. _So cold. And it is still getting colder. How long will it carry on. Will I be able to survive it at all? Chilled to death, how lovely._ His breath froze on the ceiling. _Great!_ The cold of the wall bit through his garment and the icy air crept through the gashes in the fabric over his chest, making him feel utterly miserable. Then he could hear the trees creaking in protest to the harsh treatment. _Way too freezing. I can understand now that everything that has legs would leave this place. Only the trees can't. _The Wraith got away from the wall and curled up in the leaves for some extra isolation, but the cold still tightened its grip on him. As Dr. McKay shifted around, muttering in a low voice and searching through the pockets of his combat vest, he kicked his companion. The Wraith had to summon all his will power, to acknowledge that the human couldn't have done it on purpose as he couldn't see, to stop himself from just kicking back in frustration. The parts of the man's body that lay near him gave off some warmth. _We could…no I don't even want to think about this possibility. I am going to be mocked for the rest of my life if this comes out. But I don't have to tell anyone. It is highly unlikely that the human walks into a hive and announces loudly what happened on this planet. And I won't survive anyway if I don't conserve my body warmth quickly. Time to swallow my pride again…how often have I had to do that lately? One more time really won't make a difference._

"Um, Rodney McKay, you may want to come away from the wall, it is withdrawing your body heat. Come and settle down on the leaves, they offer some extra isolation." He tried to sound calm and convincing. _Will you lay next to me or will the fear get the better of you? _The human's eyes widened in panic

"Y..You're not sug..g..gesting t..that we…" _Oh, come on! Don't be so reluctant. I didn't propose sexual interaction.) _He grabbed Rodney's leg and pulled him into a position next to him. Then the Alien put his hand onto the man's back to keep him in place and the struggling at a minimum.

"There, that is better." McKay just stared at the Wraith in absolute shock. The latter closed his eyes and enjoyed the warmth of a fellow being performing its spell as it seeped into the freezing fibres of his body. He sighed contentedly, moving his hand in the vest of his companion for even more warmth.

"Oh my god," the man whispered, an octave too high. The Wraith smiled.

"See, you do not clatter your teeth any more."

"Yeah, yeah I don't. I..It's just…uh, I never thought I would come that close to a, you know,… wraith," McKay winced.

"I thought the same about humans," the Alien muttered. "Um, would you mind not telling anyone about this…snuggling up for warmth thing…"

"Are you kidding? I'm not writing this into a mission report. It's going to be a horrendous amount of paper work already without having to explain a cuddle session with you. Um, no offence meant. Oh God, I'm gonna have nightmares about this forever."

"Me too, but between death and nightmares…"

"Yeah, I see," the still shivering man replied, "Hm, could you release me for a moment, I was actually looking if I still had that emergency blanket somewhere in my pockets, before you grabbed me." The Alien withdrew his hand and waited for McKay to finish his search, arms crossed. He was getting terribly cold again. The half sitting man produced yet another thin, rectangular object from his pocket with a triumphant expression:

"There it is."

_You have a fondness for rectangular objects, human. But I really can't see how this one is going to get us warmer._ The Wraith watched as Rodney folded it apart again and again, until he had a large, thin foil which he spread over both of them, while lying down again. _Well, that was a surprise, aaah this foil seems to have good isolation properties. This is indeed better. _He closed his eyes and enjoyed the new warmth spreading through his body. The Wraith inched closer to the human's warm body and put his hand back under the vest, where it had been before.

"Brr, you're ice-cold." McKay twitched.

"It will change." The Alien settled his head down near the man's and something stung his cheek. He opened his eyes again and found that it was this small device the human had stuck into his ear. _I've been wondering what it is for. Here is the opportunity to ask._ He inquired what it was while Rodney readjusted its position.

"That's a communication device."

_And you didn't use it up to now, how insane is this?_

"You could not have used it to call for assistance, could you?" the Wraith asked, bewildered.

"No, unfortunately not, it's rather low range."

"Oh"

An uneasy silence settled between them. The Alien could feel how the man slowly moved his hand back under the foil and carefully slipped it into his armpit. He jerked. _Ow, cold!_ The hand was removed instantly. _Hm, was that how you felt moments ago? Good grief, I'm starting to compare my emotions with a human's. Never mind, my mind is so messed up, if I escape this I will need a long vacation to sort myself out._

"You can put your hand there, I was just taken by surprise." McKay put it back and they stayed in that position for a long time, both feeling awkward about it.

All of a sudden Rodney started shivering slightly again. _Are you cold again? Nothing has changed recently so why are you shaking? Better ask you…_

"Are you cold?"

"No, not really. Hypoglycaemia just sends its regards with a motion for glucose uptake." McKay got the uneaten half of this morning's powerbar out of a pocket and started consuming it. The Wraith watched, completely bewildered.

"Hypoglycaemia?"_ Motion for glucose uptake? You don't exactly look like you're starving._

"Yeah, that means my body can't access stored glucose and I have to consume fresh one regularly. Can we change the topic?" The man sounded irritated.

_Can't access stored glucose…energy. I didn't know such a thing was possible. D__oes that mean if you don't consume nutrients regularly_ _you have no energy …does that mean you would die? _The Wraith scowled.

"Does that mean it is lethal for you not to eat regularly?"

"Yes," the man glared at him, "and I don't want to discuss this matter any further with you." _Good grief!_ The Alien inhaled deeply, thereby sensing the perspiration which covered the man in a thin layer. _Now I can smell the illness lurking underneath. Why didn't I realise this sooner? Maybe because I did not pay attention, but this human is certainly not first choice prey._

"Good grief, could you stop sniffing in that peculiar way?" the human interrupted his thoughts, sounding increasingly irritated.

"Yeah, sure, just calm down. We do not want to draw too much attention to our presence, do we?" _I just can't believe he keeps complaining about every unimportant detail but does not mention his serious condition. Humans are so confusing. The more I learn about you, the more I wish I could just simply see you as food again. You are puzzling me time and again._

They resumed their silent waiting again, and after a while they both fell into an uneasy sleep.

TBC

Please leave a review; they encourage me to keep writing a lot. (There is a sequel for this in work)

Shadow silently tiptoes to Shanthaia's computer, looks around anxiously and starts typing: Hey you reader, I am the one she gave the silly name Fluffy to, do not you dare to send her any more reviews or I will eat you. Maybe she leaves me alone when nobody tells her anymore they like her to make me suffer.

Shanthaia hears somebody at the computer "Fluffy is that you? - What are you typing? – Let me have a look!"

Vicious hiss.

"Oh, you can't be serious!" -Takes newspaper and whacks Fluffy- "If I don't get any reviews anymore I will be very upset and would have to let some steam off by writing something silly – How about Fluffy in a pink nightie performing a belly dance?"

Fluffy: "Oh God no, please don't make me do that, I beg you! Um, um**, hey you readers send lots of reviews to keep her happy" -**runs off to hide under Shanthaia's bed-


	24. Chapter 24

**Hello my great readers :) - sorry it has been so long – my poor beta night animal is so very busy at the moment :S – but she managed to edit this chapter non the less :) – thank you very much again night animal. Enjoy!**

**Chapter 24**

Something pulled him from the depth of dreamless sleep, something tingling his nose. He pulled a face but it wouldn't leave him alone. On the contrary, it got worse and he had to sneeze. _Wow, haven't done that __in forever__ …I feel crushed. _

The wraith opened his eyes and became aware that the human had made himself comfortable by lying partly on him, using his chest as a pillow. The man was snoring quietly, his mouth slightly open. Some of McKay's hair was still shoved up his nose. The Wraith turned his head sideways to get it out. _You're unbelievable! Being frightened most of the time and then snoozing away on my chest __as though there were__ no sa__f__er place in the__Universe__. _The Alien shook his head,seeing from the corner of his eye how some of his saliva trickled down Rodney's forehead, glittering in the sunlight. _Light?! Oh, finally delivered form th__at__ shadow creature__!__T__ime to check out the surroundings and get going._ He nudged his fellow escapee, who just kept on snoring. _Hm, maybe __it's a__ good __thing__ that he didn't wake up. I should remove my spittle. _He brought his sleeve up to the man's head and mopped it up. _No need for another rant on unknown diseases. __There.__B__ut now it's really time to get up. _The Wraith poked his companion, then went on to pat his cheeks – no reaction. _How fast asleep can somebody be?_ But even as he stirred more strongly and called the man to wake up, it failed to procure the desired result. _Oh, good grief! _He blocked the human's nostrils.

"Hey, wake up!" The only response was an intensified snoring. The Wraith jerked the human's head around while holding onto the nose.

"Wake up! Wake up!" This time, the man reacted by opening his mouth further, thereby releasing some accumulated saliva, which splashed into the Alien's face. _Ew, that's disgust__ing__. You're sickening. _He rubbed his face on his companion's vest. _I have had enough of you. _ Pissed off, he used a vicious hand-to-hand combat movement to throw the man off, then crawled outside. _Serves you right if you __got bruised__._

It was still frosty but not deathly freezing outside. His naked feet complained, though, as he stepped onto the hoarfrost covered red leaves. _Red? _He looked up to the tree crowns, which had lost every single leaf. The barren branches were covered in a white, icy layer. Thick droplets fell to the ground, each of them making a splashing sound as they touched the ground. Otherwise it was completely silent. _Hm, thawing already. _Above, the pale violet firmament was riddled with tiny, red glowing clouds, which reflected the inferno of the sunset. The Alien heard Rodney mumble some nonsense about triple chocolate sundae with chocolate chip cookies inside the hole, and started thinking about joining the human again, to get warm once more. He shook himself, angry at his own feelings. _Focus! The most important thing is to get off this planet__,__not being__ comfortable._ The rustling of the dry leaves in their shelter told him that the human had begun shivering and the Wraith toyed with the thought of having a late afternoon snack, but discarded it quickly. _We've gone through too much __for me __to simply feed on you__,__ and __you've proven to be__ extremely __useful,__ too. Who knows what else we run into? Don't even __start thinking about__…oh, no…Am I __getting__ superstitious as well? I am going to need a really long vacation after this is over. I am so messed up…_

A dozy face with hair standing in every direction appeared in the entrance. "Oh, is that creature gone at last?" _You have a talent __of stating the obvious__._ Rodney crawled out, dragging the blanked with him.

"Brr, it's freezing out here." The Alien snorted in response and lifted one of his feet to spare it from the cold. McKay followed the movement with his eyes. "Oh."

The human started stretching and moaned:

"Oh God, I'm sore and my back is killing me. It was a terrible idea to sleep in this hole. I'll never do that again." He massaged his upper arm. "Ouch, that hurts. Hey, wait a moment, why does it throb. You didn't hit me, did you?" The Alien looked at him, indifferently.

"You **did** hit me. Gosh, why did you **do that**?" The Wraith started grinning.

"Come on, let's get off this planet." The man looked annoyed at him.

"That's a good plan, couldn't have thought about this myself. So, why did you **hit** me? You know, this isn't a nice thing to do. Hey, and why are you grinning? You can't just stand there and grin like mad."

"Oh, yes, I can, and come on now. We will get warmer while walking." He strode off, resuming the journey towards sundown. The man hurriedly scrunched up the foil and put it away, then ran after the Wraith.

"Hey, you could've waited." The Alien just ignored him and carried on walking. Then he stopped, abruptly. The landscape behind the next edge of the hill, which was leading down, was completely untouched. The lush leaves whispered slightly in the warm wind that just had picked up, painting countless patterns of reddish sunlight on the ground for mere moments, before changing them again. He flexed his cold toes in the pleasantly warm foliage, as Rodney caught up and raised his eyebrows in surprise.

"Well, and I already wondered what to do. This will make it easier," McKay said. Then he added, more sharply: "Don't even think of going on without me."

_What are you talking about? _The man vanished behind a bush. The Wraith sighed… _Of course…_and set down on a lone rock which was sticking out of the ground_. Humans are so restricted by their body functions. I couldn't live like that. It gets rather annoying…poor guy__,__ who must tend to the worshippers. I never could understand why he complained about his assigned duties…_He watched the dancing leaves. _Hm, the devastation was very loca__l__. Why did it linger where we slept and nowhere else? I have a bad feeling about this._

McKay reappeared, searching through his many pockets.

"Ah, there it is." He pulled out another powerbar. The Alien just shook his head and walked down the hill, closely followed by Rodney, who munched away on his snack.

"Mmm, chocolate." The Wraith ignored the comment. Their journey through the gentle forestry hills was uneventful, and as the last rays of light vanished behind the horizon they exited the woods at the top of a rising. Before them, a grassy valley stretched out and rose up to form another hill. There, in the shade of five mighty red leaved trees, set in a semi circle, stood the Gate. Everything was calm and peaceful. The wind caressed the long, dark green blades of grass, which swayed softly, rustling and whispering. The Alien looked cautiously from side to side but there was no sign of danger. He strode into the waist high pasture, expecting an attack at any moment. The human followed him silently. _You've been nagging me about your sore arm all evening long, I__'m starting__ to wonder if this little bit of letting steam off was worth it. _He exhaled sharply. _But at least you can pick up on my mood enough to realise when it is vital to shut up. _

They crossed the dale quickly, with only the wind as company. The Wraith stopped in front of the dialling device and glanced around one last time. He couldn't make out any hazards. Behind the gigantic trees, the the hilly, forestcovered landscape continued. The Alien shrugged and punched in the address to an uninhabited planet. Everything stayed silent, including the Gate and the dialling device. Nothing lit up. _'/&"§!_ The human jumped, looking terrified, and retreated a few steps. The Alien looked around but saw nothing. _Oh, did I just say that aloud?_ The Wraith snorted. Then he kneeled down and tore away the metal cover, to inspect the crystals. _Oh, great__,__ the control crystal is missing. _Rodney, who had been peeking over his shoulder, moaned.

"Don't tell me the control crystal is gone." Dr. McKay got down as well, next to the Wraith.

"You don't happen to know a really clever Wraith trick on how to compensate for that?" The Alien gave him a glare. "Um, thought so…what are we going to do now?"

_I don't know. _ He focused his attention back on the crystals, against better judgement, and tried to think of anything worth trying.

"Hello, Fluffy! Having fun again?" a spiteful voice greeted him from behind.

TBC

**Please leave a review! – It costs you a couple of minutes and I enjoy reading what you think so much :)**


	25. Chapter 25

Chapter 25

**Many thanks to my wonderful beta night animal :) And thanks for all the kind reviews – I enjoyed reading them very much!**

**Chapter 25**

_No, no, no, please let this be a nightmare. I never ever want to meet this creature again. _An icy shiver ran down his spine, a single sweat bead formed on his forehead and found its way down the tip of his nose, towards the ground. The Wraith got up, sluggishly, glancing at the terrified human still cowering at the floor, and turned around slowly, still looking at the grass. _Wake up from this insane dream. You're still snuggled up in the leafy hole. Argh, whom are you kidding? This is reality. A very bad reality. _He raised his head and there she stood, leaning against the last tree in the semicircle with an extremely smug smile on her face. The being tossed something yellow, semitransparent into the air and caught it again.

"Missing something?" she asked with an evil, toothy smile.

_The control crystal! You…§"&! _He growled viciously, which earned him a giggle from the entity.

"Oh, you are so entertaining." The smile broadened. "You both are." _Both?_ The Wraith scowled.

"You know, I could not believe my eyes when the cell door alarm went off and I watched you sneaking away. Predator and prey working together, then even the prey dragging along the predator… what a sight." The creature smiled, amused. "I just could not resist letting you two escape, best entertainment I had in years. Oh, come on, don't look so surprised. Did you really think I did not secure the mechanism against unauthorized activation?" she added with a sugar sweet voice. The Alien hid his face in his hands:

"The cliff, the near crash, almost freezing to death …and you just watched?!" He moaned. _I knew something was off. _The entity laughed unpleasantly while still tossing the crystal. "Oh yes, a human and a Wraith stuck in a hole. I was not able to resist the temptation to teach the young one how to absorb energy from environmental heat. It was so cute how the two of you snuggled up to keep warm. Was that not funny?" The creature could not speak anymore, she was giggling too hard. _Funny? Funny!_ He roared.

Beside him, Rodney jumped in terror and ran off into the woods.

"Oh, look, now you have scared your little human companion away," the entity said with mock sadness. She stopped playing with the control crystal and her expression became serious.

"So, what am I going to do with you, Fluffy? Seeing you walking through the vegetable patches with a human is only amusing for so long." The creature walked towards the Wraith, swinging her hips exaggeratingly.

"So, what shall I do?" She leant forward, penetrating his personal space. A nasty smile formed on her lips. "Would it not be appropriate to punish you for your disobedience?" The Alien took a step back. _Please, no more punishments, I have really had enough of those._

"Oh, is the poor little Wraith afraid," she taunted him.

_How dare you…_He inhaled deeply but his response stuck in his throat as the creature gripped his neck and throttled him, while lifting him from the ground. The Wraith gasped helplessly. _Air, I need air. _Just before unconsciousness claimed him, the being dropped him to the floor, where he set coughing and panting. Meanwhile, the entity produced a short, dirty knife, which looked nasty with all its spikes.

"Should I cut you into pieces bit by bit? How much can you regenerate?" she whispered quietly into his ear, dragging the knife's tip along his arm. The shallow wound didn't take long to heal.

"Or shall I rip out every single organ of yours, Fluffy." Although her voice was low it still sounded dangerous, and her eyes where alive with glee. She grabbed his head with one clawed hand and brought the knife close to his face with the other. _Too close to my eye, way too close. …You are not joking, are you? Running seems like a good idea now. _The Wraith jerked his head suddenly and the being let go in surprise. Blood was trickling out of the scratches her talons had left, but he didn't care as he dashed into the forest right after the human. _Away, I need to run away._

The Wraith heard the creature giggle far behind him, then a noise like a thousand daggers ripping meat apart ruptured the air. He winced and tried to run even faster. _Whatever that was, it's going to be bad._

"You cannot escape. There is nowhere to go for you on this planet," her voice sounded from above. The Alien glanced up and saw the creature flying above the treetops. _Was that sound you taking off? Oh, not good, not good. Unfortunately, she is right. I am so screwed. There is no sanctuary. _He shivered. _Good grief, her wings flapping sound like a whip slashing. This is like a bad omen._

The Wraith kept sprinting through the woods, not caring about all the cuts the thorns gave him, and soon he spotted Rodney, running for dear life in front of him. Just as he had almost caught up, the human stumbled - trying to stop in time as a cliff suddenly came into view. The man waved his arms in a futile attempt to regain balance, a high pitched scream pinching the air as Rodney lost the fight and fell over the cliff. The Wraith came barley in time to grab McKay's vest and pull him back onto safe ground. Shocked, they both stood there for a moment.

"Oh God, oh God,"the human whispered quietly. He was beginning to shake slightly. The Alien looked around hectically to decide which way to go, as he glimpsed a shadow lurking within the trees at the bottom of the ravine. _The young one. §"&! _The black creature glided into view over the chasm, chuckling maliciously. She mocked them:

"Oh, is there somebody running out of options?" The Wraith growled, then realised that the black mist had started creeping up the rocky wall towards them.

"Run, Rodney!" He rushed past the human and up a steep slope to their right, along the cliff side.

Although McKay reacted instantly and followed his companion, he fell behind quickly. _He's not going to make it at that speed. The dark vapour is catching up. … I don't even know if I will be fast enough to evade recapture. But maybe you will distract them long enough to give me at least a head start. _The Alien glanced up again and spotted the grown up performing some weird movements in the air. She obviously had a hard time staying air borne while having a laughing fit. _Not good!_ The entity regained her balance after calming down a bit, drew nearer and told him, giggling:

"You know that you are heading for a dead end, don't you? In front of you is a steep wall, plunging down. You cannot escape me. If you give up now, I will let you rest in a nice cell tonight. What do you say?"

"I'd rather jump down that cliff than come back with you. I won't let you torture me again!" he snapped at her.

"Torture, torture …do I really torture you" she mused quietly, "Oh, who cares, it is fun making you miserable! Judging by your expression, I'd better fly ahead and get myself ready to catch you, should you really jump. The young one will take care of the rest." The creature smiled nastily one more time and vanished out of sight over the tree tops.

The Wraith stopped, panting hard. _What can I do now? I'm so screwed. _He watched as the black mist hunted McKay uphill. The entity had surrounded him on three sides, leaving him only one direction to flee in. _The extensions of the being to your left and right are not too large, but it is still moving too fast for you to ever outrun it. Hm, your breath is going becoming irregular. I've seen that before…prey on the brink of exhaustion. You are not going to make it much longer._ He waited and glanced over the edge of the cliff he was standing at. _Nothing I can do anymore. This wall is not high enough to kill me, but a jump will certainly injure me enough to be captured without a problem. …Rodney said direct contact with this misty entity is lethal. So this is how it will end. Let's hope he is right. _TheWraith waited with closed eyes, he could hear the human's tired feet scraping along the ground, coming closer and closer and then a different sound, something crackling_. What new cruelty is this_

TBC

**Please leave a review! It costs you a minute and it is so great to know what you think :)**

**Fluffy, crossing his hands irritatingly: "Do you really want to know? How can it be funny or entertaining when I have to run for my life? You surly just get a lot of bad reviews!"**

**Me: "Sshhh, Fluffy, you're spoiling the fun – now they know that your survived the experience."**

**Fluffy: "I do not particularly care, just one more chapter and an epilogue to suffer through. I shall be so glad when this is over!" **

**Me rolls eyes**


	26. Chapter 26

Another excellent job, Lisa

Chapter 26

"Dr. McKay, do you read? I repeat, Dr. McKay, do you read?"

The Wraith scowled at the disembodied voice, then watched as the human touched his communication device and pressed out between gasps:

"Sheppard…never been…happier …to hear …your voice. Get Jumper…here before… it kills…us."

"Hang in there. We've got a lock on your subcutaneous signal. We should be with you in a minute. Um, McKay, who is _us_?"

The Wraith flung open his eyes. _The Lanteans are coming with a ship…Jumper…those come with a dialling device. A way out… _He saw as the human lost speed, his breath whistling and irregular. _The talking has cost him strength he didn't have. The black creature is almost upon him. His friends won't be pleased to find him dead. &§! _With a roar, the Wraith sprinted to the man, gripped his arm and dragged him along, away from the shadow, which kept creeping through the forest after them, swallowing one tree after the other. _Vegetation everywhere. The vessel won't be able to pick us up here. _The Alien glanced to the left, still yanking McKay along, and saw a wall of black separating him and the cliff. _'#! _

"Rodney, please respond…Rodney? …Damn…"

The Wraith eyed his companion, who looked as though he would pass out any moment. _No strength left for talking, let alone outrunning the dark creature to access the cliff again. §"#! _ He abruptly stopped and used the momentum to haul McKay onto his shoulders. Then he ran like he had never done before in his life. With the additional burden it was pure agony. There was just not enough air for his lungs. His body felt as if it were on fire and his legs threatened to give way. Every time his bare feet touched the ground, pain shot through them as sharp stones dug deep into his flesh due the force of his strides and the extra weight. _Keep going, just one more step, one more moment and you will be free. One more step, just one more step…_The darkness faded to the Alien's left as he gained some ground and he could feel a turbulence in the air and hear a humming sound.

Through the haze of pain, the Wraith watched as the inside of a small, Lantean combat vessel appeared from out of nowhere. It was full with people. _Must have been cloaked. Now or never! _He leaped off the cliff into the midst of his enemies without a second thought, thereby colliding with two of the Marines. They all ended up in a huddle on the floor but none of the guards seemed to have realised that one of the participants was Wraith, as all of them where busy staring at the dark entity. The last thing he heard was somebody stating:

"Now, that looks disturbingly familiar." Then all the surroundings drowned out on him as he lay panting on the ground, eyes closed. _Safe, escaped, more air, need more air, not enough air, safe…_Loud dots of colour where dancing over the inside of his eyelids. _Safe, I'm safe._ Then the sounds came rushing back, but it sounded so ear-splitting to him that he could not make out what he was actually hearing. _Please stop this cacophony. _The Wraith curled up and protected his ears with his hands. He couldn't understand what the humans where muttering about, and was glad for it. All he wanted to do was lie there, resting. His breathing had subsided from ragged gasps to a hasty respiration. From far away a female voice drifted into his blank mind.

"Could you get Rodney onto a bench for me, please, so that I can check him over?" A heavy weight was lifted from him.

"Oh my God, it's a Wraith!" the same male voice from before said, alarmed. He could hear how weapons where pointed at him but had no strength to care for the moment. Then a hesitant:

"Is…is it unconscious?" was added.

"Leave…him…alone," McKay's faint voice came to his ears. _The_ _human's breathing is still laboured._

"Ssshhh, settle down, Rodney, and let me give you a quick check up," the female voice said. The Alien kept perfectly still. _Best not to startle them. Need to convince them to let me go at the first good opportunity. _

"How is he?" the owner of the voice earlier heard from the communication device enquired.

"He is extremely exhausted, has a few bruises and may be dehydrated, but otherwise he's probably fine. I need to get him to the infirmary, though, to say for sure," the woman answered. _Good to hear. …Good grief, are you worried for a human?_

"Dial home" the male voice ordered. _Home? –Your base. "&'#! Once there they'll never let me go again. Reason, I need a reason why not to dial their base…the creature!_

"Don't" his voice was hoarse.

"Shit, that thing is still awake."

The voice belonged to the soldier who had spoken before. The Wraith could feel the barrel of a gun at his temple. He opened his eyes to see a bunch of heavily armed Lantean warriors jump. _That was a mistake, can't change that now. Just keep calm._

"Don't dial home..._ow, talking is painful…_the creature…she is brilliant with Ancient technology…she'll cause trouble…gatejump…you need to gatejump to get rid of her."

The humans where staring at him, expressions ranging from completely dumb folded over disbelieving to absolute hatred. _O dear, no chance to convince you. _Then he got unexpected help:

"I second that, she is a nasty piece of work," Rodney said, tiredly. His breathing had calmed a bit. _Thanks._ The dark haired pilot scowled:

" With 'she' you mean this black winged creature, which carried you away?"

McKay nodded. The man turned around and punched in an address. _Aah, finally leaving. _The Alien looked at the pilot more closely. _Is that John Sheppard, the military leader of the Lanteans? The face matches the descriptions of my brothers. Rodney McKay must be really important to them if they sent the leader looking for him. Amazing, if this is really him. _

He gazed around but did not recognise any of the soldiers. _This female…is that the native woman…no can't be, she is neither dark skinned nor dark haired. All this equipment she is using on Rodney … maybe a healer. Glad the Runner is not here, he is said to be trigger happy. _

As they approached the event horizon, a collision rocked the jumper. It did not affect the journey through the gate, though. _What was that? Can't have been good. _

The Wraith didn't have to wait long for an answer as a clawed, black hand left three parallel scratches in the vessel's front window. The piloting human flinched back.

"Wow!" A face appeared upside-down. "You will not escape me," the creature screeched, infuriated, while hammering against the glass.

"Hold on tight," the pilot ordered. The air craft rose steeply and underwent a few sharp direction changes. The Alien clasped onto the edge of the bench but got as shaken as the rest of the crew. _I've to admit_ _he is_ _a skilled pilot, but will it be enough to throw her off?_ The face had vanished from view. _Has it worked? _A deafening sound of ripping metal made them all wince and look up. _No. Would have been too good to be true. _The dark haired human jerked the vessel around and hurriedly dialled the gate.

The Wraith could not suppress a grin as they exited the gate at the other side. Thousands of stars were glittering in the deep black void that was space. _Brilliant! If this does not work, nothing will. _The hammering subsided and as the human at the controls turned the Jumper, they could see a black mass tumbling towards a green-bluish planet.

"Oh, thank God! I thought we'd never get rid of her." _Well said, Rodney._ The Alien let out a sigh of relief. The attention of the soldiers returned to the Wraith.

"What should we do with it?" one of them asked. _It?! _He sat up, hissing viciously

"We'd better kill it right now, before it sees an opportunity to attack," another added. _Uh-oh, mistake. _He tried to relax and look as non-threatening as possible. _Swallow your pride one last time. What should I say or do to calm down these warriors?_ He didn't need to do anything, as Dr. McKay came to his rescue. The scientist sat up abruptly as they mentioned killing the Alien.

"Nonono, you can't do that. He's alright."

"Alright?" the pilot repeated, slowly.

"McKay, is he playing a mind thing with you?"

"No," was the impulsive response, "he saved my life."

"A Wraith saved your life?" the dark haired human asked, bewildered, and turned to the female, "Are you sure he is alright, Dr. Keller?" _Oh, so she is a healer. Hm, Keller, haven't heard of her._

Rodney sighed, theatrically.

"Look, Sheppard, you had the whole life saving thing with Todd. Why am I declared insane if I've the same thing with Fluffy?"

It was silent in the Jumper as the statement sunk in. _So it is the Lantean leader. …Fluffy?! How dare you saying this aloud in front of all these people? _

"Fluffy?" the pilot asked, bemused, with a cocked eyebrow. The Wraith glared around angrily. All the warriors had a hard time to suppress a smirk. _That's too much. You'll receive a payback for that. _The Wraith grinned grimly:

"Did we not agree on not calling each other names, Mr. Whiny?"

This time one of the soldiers snorted, while the others tried to hide their smiles. Sheppard's second eyebrow joined the first raised one, while he tried to suppress a smirk as well. Dr. McKay frowned at the Alien.

"Ok, this is different," John stated, "But it's also a first for a Wraith in a light brown torn toga. What happened to you two?"

"Miss Torture Crazy." Rodney and the Alien looked at each other, surprised, as they had spoken simultaneously.

"Wow, do we have a competition for naming things badly, today?" Sheppard asked, astonished. _Time to use the good mood to my advantage._

"Um, as much as I'd like to hang around chatting with you, would you mind dropping me off on the next planet with a functioning gate on the ground?" he asked, half to Rodney, half to the leader.

TBC


	27. Chapter 27

**Many thanks to my beta night animal! – It was a pleasure working with you****! **

**Enjoy the last chapter!**

**Epiloge**

Warm heavy rain was drenching him as he watched the gate shutting down. Even this short moment outside the Lantean vessel had been enough to make him soaking wet. The Wraith shed off the torn robe _... don't want to keep this…_and dropped it carelessly into the mud. Then the Alien sat down on one of the many rocks riddling the dirt wasteland he was in, and let the rain wash away the tension of the last few days. _Free, finally free…they actually did it. They've let me go. Even if I never say this aloud…thank you, Rodney McKay. This was only thanks to your intervention. I still can't believe this whiny, ranting, ever annoying man would come to my aid in a state of complete exhaustion…hm, and after I hit him…and threatened to feed off of him…incredible how much compassion he still showed me. I can't help but like him…to a certain extent. He is extremely useful, at least. I can now imagine why the commander of the enemy hive would seek their help._ Words from Rodney drifted into his mind:

"Look, Sheppard, you had the whole life saving thing with Todd." The Wraith chuckled. _Todd!_ _They called him __**Todd**__. Does he know about his little nickname? _The quiet chuckle changed into a whole hearted laugh. "Seems as though interactions with humans leave you stuck with a ridiculous name," he told nobody in particular.

Little streams of water were flowing down his body. His hair could not hold all the water that fell on his head. Some of it trickled down his forehead, where he whiped it off. _Ah, Rodney, you even insisted on not dropping me off in a flood. You and your exaggerations…But getting a bit wet doesn't matter, I will be home soon. I had to go while you would let me, who knows if your leader wouldn't have changed his mind at the next planet. _

The Wraith fingered the old, dirty and sopping bandages on his chest. _Won't need those, my wounds have long since healed. _He started undoing them. _Hm, your awkward way of caring even for me. Do you care for all people? …The worried expression on your face when you asked about the whereabouts of the rest of your team. Your relief when Sheppard told you there were other teams looking for you. _The Alien smirked. _The annoyance in your eyes when your leader told you that that Zel…-something-guy had narrowed down the list of dialled planets to thirty possible ones. Seems as if there is a lot of competition going on between human scientists…_He chucked the loosened dressing on top of the robe, which was sinking gurgling into the muck. _Probably best for that thing to be buried here. I don't want to talk about Miss Torture Crazy ever again, and I would have a hard time explaining this foreign clothing without mentioning her. I wouldn't like to report any of this, I'd like to rest a bit and then get on with everyday life. Maybe I'll just say that I got held up by a malfunctioning dialling device. _He looked down at himself. _Hm, and that I lost my clothes in a fire. I don't think it will make a difference if I don't mention her. She's been around for some time, never intervened in Wraith business and is most likely dead by now._

The Alien stood up and stretched his tired muscles. _Time to go home. _He walked up to the dialling device. _Where should I go?... Suppose Rodney is already reunited with his people. _The Alien smiled briefly, then flinched. _#! I have to guard my thoughts. Stuff like that will get me in severe trouble in my hive. …My mind is so messed up. I direly need to sort my brain out. Can't do this in my hive, though. Thinking about it, my excuse for being late sounds rather lame and I haven't neutralized the enemy commander either. Todd…_He chuckled again. _Oh, pull yourself together. This is not an amusing situation. I've failed…It is logical to assume that my mind will be probed. Can't hide what happened. Working together with a Lantean…that could earn me a death penalty. '§&! What am I going to do? I need to keep all this quiet, but how? _He combed his wet, straggly hair with his fingers while thinking hard.

_Ah, I know…yes, he owes me a favour. _The Wraith remembered an old friend of his who held the responsibility for a small research outpost. _He won't ask questions if I request it as repayment. I'm sure he will grant me a proper meal as well and some time to sort myself out. _He smiled broadly. _He doesn't get along with the second in command at the hive very well either. This is perfect. As the queen is dead, he is very unlikely to report any suspicion back to the hive either. _The Alien punched in the planet´s address, the gate came to life and he walked through.

At the other side a gentle breeze greeted him, starting to dry his body. The air smelled autumnal. The leaves of the swaying trees where coloured mostly red. He winced. _Come on, time to sort out your mind. Those are perfectly harmless trees. _The Alien couldn't see the research station behind the trees but the distant thoughts of his brothers were already caressing his mind. They were not aware of his presence yet. A hint of a smile appeared on the Wraith's face as he made out the thought pattern of the local leader, his friend. Then he strolled with graceful strides towards the familiar facility. Just a brisk walk and he would be home.

THE END

**Wow, that story got way longer than I ever imagined. Thanks for staying with me and those many lovely reviews. I am not cross if you send a last one :) – in contrary I rather would enjoy to hear what you thought about this story.**

**Anyhow, I will go abroad for a year now. I don't know if this will give me more or less time to write. I started to write a sequel to this but maybe you will have to wait a year before you hear from me again.**

**I wish you all the best and maybe you get to read from me soon :)**


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